KLONDIKE, CP Army Headquarters- The very first edition of ‘Your Questions Answered’ sees four real community questions pertaining to some of the hottest issues in armies.

One viewer asks DMT… “What steps are you taking to ensure the safety of #general-chat?”

Because it [the question] regards the safety and privacy of the community.  As nice as a main-chat would be, there are some safety precautions that have to be in place for it to be functional.  Curious as to what those are.

DMT: This is an excellent question.  Just a couple of months ago, we outlined why we would not be launching with a general chat.  So, the teasers and announcements of general chat have caused some people to wonder what changed to make a general chat safe.  After all, our biggest concern with a general chat back in February was the dangers that come with it.  We always knew that the desire for main chat would be strong, so we had been discussing ways to go about it’s incorporation before we even opened.

First and foremost, we have made general chat in CPAHQ completely voluntary.  Historically, people have avoided joining an organizations Discord server because they didn’t like general chat.  Whether that was because of decisions made by those previously in charge, or just because the environment of a general chat tends to lean towards, quite simply: being annoying.  As a news site, we do not want people to be turned away from our server, otherwise they will not be notified when we release news.  So, for those who want no part of a general chat, they just simply do not have to get verified; which brings me to another new system in place.

To use general chat, users will have to be verified by our moderators/administrators.  When one joins the server, Carl-bot will ask them about what army they’re in, what rank they possess, or what army they were previously in if retired.  This allows us to make sure that the people in general chat are actual community members, not just people looking to stir up drama or harass and threaten (etc.) the general population.  Obviously, there are some people who are active in armies and also, ahem, do a little bit of trolling.  Those who join general chat just to antagonize will be dealt with once they break the rules.  Verification exists for the above reason of ‘opting out’, and for the reason of making sure those with access are there because they have a desire to chat with community members from many different armies.  It’s a manual process.  Every user is approved by an actual person and not just a bot.  For now, this works since the CPAHQ server is smaller than it’s predecessors.  If/when CPAHQ grows in the future, the moderation team will be expanded to keep up with the demand.  This brings me to our final point of note.

Moderators in CPAHQ will be treated much differently than they have been in the past.  CPAHQ interviews every moderator before bringing them onto the team to ensure that they are available, knowledgeable, and responsible.  This is because we have given moderators full disposal of the tools they need to keep the server safe and enjoyable.  One of the previous concerns expressed with past organizations was the lack of permissions.  Oftentimes, bans would have to be approved by admins.  This, as well as many other scenarios, meant that moderators basically existed to mitigate chaos instead of actually enforcing the rules.  CPAHQ moderators have a complete arsenal to use when dealing with infractions.  Paired with their experience, the moderation team will operate without much interference from the administration (except the Head Moderators, of course).  This makes sense, considering they are the ones who applied to be mods and we did not.  The moderators we have very likely know more about moderation than we do.  Obviously, we will still monitor the moderation team to make sure it’s working as intended.  But giving the moderators a much longer leash in terms of enforcement will help them foster an enjoyable place for discussion.

Lastly, it is important to add that general chat is a privilege, not something we must provide.  We’ve put the work in to host a general chat because the community really wanted one.  This doesn’t mean general chat is here to stay.  We are just as ready to pull the plug on general chat if it becomes too much of a problem to be worth managing.  As most have probably seen, we have a simple command that will prevent everyone from messaging there.  Those who can’t handle the taxing service we are providing simply do not deserve it in the first place.  Furthermore, any harassment or abuse to our moderation team will not be tolerated.  We will be more than happy to ban anyone who attacks people for volunteering to do one of the toughest jobs in armies, and will defend our moderators tooth and nail when they are being treated poorly.  They are not immune to criticism, but they are required basic human decency and respect.

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One viewer asks CPAHQ… “Is there a way in which we can eliminate toxicity?  Or is it already by definition a systematic thing in the community?”

Vanish: Toxicity has sadly become very common in this community. I do believe it is possible to limit how much of it we see, simply by coming together as a community. People are in armies for a lot of different reasons. One person can find it fun, another enjoys the aspects of immersion, and another uses armies as an escape from the ‘mundane-ness’ of life.  Regardless of the reason people are here, it’s clear that we can all unite behind the idea that armies are meant to be fun.  Armies are meant to be enjoyable.  Armies are meant to be safe.  That’s when I believe toxicity will slowly Vanish away.

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One viewer asks CPAHQ… “When will you guys release a server map?  And when will you guys operate on another CPPS?”

Superhero123: Since DMT will speak about the server map below, I will focus on the CPPS question. It’s a good question that many people have, so let me clear it up! I am working on an HTML5 version of cparmies.net, although with a slow rhythm due to my lack of time. I can’t even promise that it will ever release, but if it does it will be [probably] pretty much the same as the previous game minus all the non-army features like Card Jitsu to save development time. I am talking about a browser game, by the way. Like the original, not some standalone downloadable client.

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One viewer asks DMT…“When will CPAHQ have a server map?”

A server map is what made battles, invasions, and a lot of the interesting politics and wars possible during the golden era of 2020.

DMT: The server map was such an interesting idea to me when it first came into fruition.  I was leading a small army, the Striking Raiders, in the summer of 2016.  Although this generation was short lived, it was one of the most exciting couple of months to lead an army, for me at least.  Since then, it’s become so much more than what it originally was.  I mean, the first attempt of a server map died because they stopped updating it!  Now, it’s almost an expectancy that people have for the community.  It does make sense: shouldn’t their be a way to document and notarize servers and their rightful owners?  But that idea has evolved into an astronomically complex topic.  At what point does an organization cross the line of media, to government?

The history of CPPS armies has seen more organizations with server maps than without.  Club Penguin Army Syndicate arrived onto the scene in January of 2018, but closed down in April of that same year.  The Club Penguin Online Army League was founded around two months later, which rose to a level of prominence never seen in the CPPS army era.  This is when organizations started to build in complexity.  No longer were the days of short life expectancies.  Organizations were built not just to last, but to dominate.   In 2019, I came back to armies and became an administrator of Club Penguin Armies, which ran counterpart to CPOAL.  These two organizations striving to best each other caused immense development of what we now know as ‘leagues’, as both sides continued to release new features with the goal of keeping their armies loyal to the organization.  2020 took it to another level, with the merging of Club Penguin Army Media and Club Penguin Army League to form Club Penguin Army Hub, the first unified community since the early days of CPPS armies.

So, why doesn’t CPAHQ have a server map?  Somewhere down the line, the motives behind creating an army organization changed.  Consistency was no longer a key focus.  I’m sure that everyone involved in previous organizations has worried about the longstanding ability of their organization, but it seems like that concern was overtaken by the desire to unify and solve the problem of armies not being in the same playing field.  I am guilty of this as well.  In my time as administrator of CPA, we participated in four merger discussion in 2019, one unofficial discussion in 2020, and one discussion to close CPA and let CPAM continue on as the home for CPR armies.  The goal of unification brings the bureaucracy and sociopolitical logistics of keeping all armies under the same roof by whatever means necessary.  It introduced an idea that armies held weight over the organizations, as they knew leagues were desperate to keep all their armies participating within.  On this day in 2019, April 30th, Club Penguin Armies officially welcomed it’s 11 charter armies to the league.  731 days later, the community has seen 4 leagues wither away, whether it was a slow decline such as CPA, or a quick meltdown like CPAH.

CPAHQ’s mission statement has, and always will be: to be a consistent home for any and all Club Penguin armies.  With that comes an extra level of thought for our administration.  We have to make sure that the actions we take do not attempt to take control of the free will over armies.  We must make sure that we do not introduce the idea of allegiance to our organization being the most important factor in armies.  A server map, in it’s previous states, would virtually overwrite our mission statement.  However, this does not mean that a server map is out of the question.  I’ve been captivated by the concept since 2016 and would love to see it return.  But we must make sure that we do not overstep the boundaries that we have set for ourselves.  Otherwise, we could end up starting the cycle that has become all too common in armies: recycling organizations where the only variance is their acronym and their color scheme.

CPAHQ is actively exploring ways to incorporate the server map into our website without losing sight of what we think is most important for this community: consistency.  We don’t have any date set in stone, but I can assure you that it is something we continue to discuss.  Also, for the record- just because I feel one way about something does not mean I won’t change my opinion about it OR do it regardless of how I feel about something.  I, as well as the entire administration team, always value community input right alongside our own beliefs and the logistics that come with certain requests.  Otherwise, we would not be much of an organization at all.  Please continue to share with us your concerns, ideas, and thoughts; they truly do factor in to our decisions.

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Do you have a question for CPAHQ that you want to get answered?  Have you ever wanted a personalized essay from DMT?  Make sure to submit your queries to us HERE for the chance of your question featuring on Your Questions Answered, posted every Friday!

DMT

CPA Headquarters Director in Chief

Vanish

CPA Headquarters Vice Director

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