Lawsuits, petitions, etc.
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Someday **ALL** of your beloved games that you play online will go away. It may not be today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or next decade, but it **WILL** happen.
LMAO- Maybe thousands of us need an phychologist, who feel cheated.
I think the only real thing you might (and that "might" will likely not hold either because Zynga's lawyers were probably smart enough to foresee this situation) have a grip on is the virtual currency you paid real money for.
Games, like other services, just do go out of business, and you have no right whatsoever that service be uninterrupted or perpetually continued, and you cannot expect a compensation if that isn't the case, nor can you force the company to continue the game. Lawsuits on that base are frivolous at best, ridiculous otherwise (meaning the judge will either shout or laugh at you).
Indeed, in the ToS of every provider, not just games, you agree to the exact opposite of continued, perpetual service. The notable exception being providers where you pay big-$ for 99% availability (which is 4 days downtime per year!) or where you pay big-$$$ for 99.99% availability for the term of your contract. This is not the kind of contract you have, however.
Zynga might continue for a short while to mitigate the negative impact on their stock quotes, but they'll let it phase out anyway, either way, no matter what you do or say. They might make the game so unenjoyable that you're not going to play it, either (just so it is formally running).
As for your virtual avatars (and their items), you do not own these either, nor have you "rented" them, you merely own the right to play the game using these avatars while the game is running. But even this right can be taken away, for example if your avatars is banned from the game. This is the same in every kind of online service and something that is universally agreed, everywhere. You could say that it is self-evident even if the ToS didn't explicitly say so.
Now on the other hand, the Yo-dollars or what their currency is called, is a different thing, at least ethically and conceptually.
Currencies are promises, and are only about promises. When your employer gives you a paycheck with $5,000 on it, this is a promise that employer's bank will transfer $5,000 to your account in exchange for this worthless piece of paper. Your bank promises that they will, upon demand, give you cash for the virtual (and completely worthless) balance in your account. They promise that they actually have enough money to pay everybody too (*cough*).
You can get cash from your bank, which is also no more than a promise given by your government that these few sheets of paper are worth $5,000 which you can exchange for goods and other currency, and which the federal bank will pay you in gold upon request.
This promise used to be backed by real gold until about the beginning of the last century, but nowadays it's just a promise, and the "gold" is mostly virtual. There's not enough gold to pay everyone. Everyone knows that, but it's not a problem as long as everybody believes in the promise, and as long as neither the bank nor the government shuts down (*cough*). This is the base of every modern economy, and it is universally well-understood.
When you buy a virtual currency, you buy the promise that this currency will be exchangeable for something (either goods or other currency). The fact that it is virtual does not matter, because all currencies (unless you buy Krugerrand or Gold Eagles) are virtual. And even these are often virtual (since having gold at home is a risk), you usually only buy a certificate for which your bank promises stocking the amount you bought.
Now, if Zynga discontinues Yo-ville, the currency is no longer exchangeable for goods, since said goods no longer exist. How do you buy a fancy hat for your in-game avatar if neither the game nor the avatar (or the hat) is supported any longer?
Consequently, the virtual currency must be exchangeable for other currency (i.e. refunded).
However, I'm afraid that there is probably a clause in the small print when you buy them (you'd have to look) which says something like: "No refunds, ever. You are aware and agree that Yo-dollars are completely worthless, and you cannot trade them back or exchange them for anything".
This is more than likely the case (otherwise Zynga needs to fire their lawyers). So even if you ethically have a claim on a "real" good, you may not have it in practice.
And of course, Zynga can easily sell all of the game's rights (and obligations) to its affiliate Zynblah LCC. and shut down Zynblah LCC a month later. You can try and go to court, but you'll not get a lot of money from a defunct company. In the USA, a LCC does not mandate a particular minimum nominal capital, so this is a cheap procedure... it'll basically cost them around $75 for the filing fee. As a bonus, they may get rid of unwanted personnel the cheap way too, by transferring them to the affiliate. No beating a dead horse, no unemployment compensations.
