players and some messages were able to get through the filtered chat. Also, the "Caste system" between those who had membership and exclusive items and those who lacked full membership (and therefore were unable to own the "coolest" items) could lead to players having a difficult time attracting friends. Furthermore, some researchers were concerned that due to the differing experiences and privileges between paid and non-paid members, children would be exposed to a class system where some would be competing for higher and higher status. Others worried that the display of class and promotion of consumerism within Club Penguin fosters the notion that the accumulation of wealth and possessions are the direct result of one's success and status. Additionally, some critics have noted the presence of strong sexual connotations due to the modeling of romantic relationships and behaviors. One criticism came from Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic Monthly: in relation to the safety procedures, she noted that Club Penguin was "certainly the safest way for unsupervised children to talk to potentially malevolent strangers—but why would you want them to do that in the first place?" While views of the strength of this criticism might vary, the concern was mirrored by Lynsey Kiely in the Sunday Independent, who quoted Karen Mason, Communications Director for Club Penguin, as saying "we cannot guarantee that every person who visits the site is a child." On August 20, 2013, Disney announced that Toontown Online, Pixie Hollow, and Pirates of the Caribbean Online were closing directly because of Club Penguin and Disney's mobile games. This caused major controversy between Club Penguin and fans of the three games, especially Toontown, where some users had played for more than 12 years (Toontown's alpha test started in August 2001). Private servers A Club Penguin Private Server (commonly abbreviated and known as a CPPS) is an online multiplayer game that is not part of Club Penguin, but uses unlicensed SWF files from Club Penguin, a database, and a server emulator in order to create a similar environment for the game. Many now use these environments in order to play the original game after its discontinuation. CPPSes often contain features that did not exist in the original game such as custom items and rooms, free membership, etc. Throughout the official game's existence, various players created private servers of Club Penguin, and in response to its closure, more private servers were created.