EDIT -November 2012: Spon1Player (Dan) is now the owner of ‘SimPrograms’, which has been branded to ‘BeyondSims’.

*Sticky announcement* I haven’t been participating much in terms of posting news, and there is a reason for that….as I said in some of the previous comments, I’ve pretty much been distancing myself away from Sims/EA.  I just don’t find the fun it in anymore, especially since most of the news coming out makes me want to rage and rant.  I’ve began to question myself – why bother with the supporting EA when they clearly don’t give a rip about us? (I’m speaking about EA in general, not the SimGuru’s – at least they are somewhat trying to communicate to the fans).  Why should I spend be constantly spending money on sub-par products that really don’t interest me that much anymore?  Why keep giving EA free press and the only form of communication are takedown notices?  I’ve pretty much had enough with the way the company is headed, so I’ve pretty much stopped buying their games and keeping up.
So, with that being said, it gives me two options:

  1. Close Simprograms and venture on to personal projects.
  2. Keep Simprograms open, but hand the site over to someone who still enjoys EA/Sim games.

Now, seeing as it’s always been about the fans, and that people still do enjoy reading the site (I’ve read some comments about how it’s dipped in quality and that some folks don’t really care for some of the staff here – and you’re very much right to express your opinion on the matter) it’s probably best to go with the second option.  So with that being said, I’m stepping down and handing over the site to Bryce (TheBlackScorpion).  He still very much enjoys the franchise, and even though some may argue that I should close it anyways, I think he can do a sufficient job of keeping the site up and going for you guys – providing you care to give him feedback when necessary (just don’t be rude about it, that’s one of my pet peeves).
I’ll still be around – probably drifting in the comments, but as for the Simprograms twitter, he’s pretty much using that now (my personal one is now set up in case you want to follow that) and give the staff a hand when necessary, but I doubt I’ll be doing much or any posting.  If you happen to have any requests or news, please pass it onto the staff members and not me.  As much as I loved The Sims in general, I think it’s time to move on.  I still love Maxis, and will support them on SimCity 5 – but more than likely I’ll be doing that by being an ‘average fan’ and not a webmaster.
-Jud