KLONDIKE, CP Army Headquarters, Max’s Desk – The Contested Crusade has caused much debate over the last 24 hours, with community members weighing in on the drama with their own opinions and criticisms. This author believes the Templars should fight, and here’s why.
The community needs it
That’s right, if you won’t do it for yourselves, do it for us! This year has probably one of the worst in our 15 year long history, with flash ceasing operations and a difficult switch to operating solely on CP Rewritten – a game that does not support our activities, nor allows us to thrive like CP Army: The Game and CPArmies.net did in 2020. What we really need now, more than ever before, is a huge conflict that will create a sense of excitement and interest in the community once more, and this war between the top three armies has the potential to restore much of that just as the year draws to a close. We also know that the Ice Warriors and Rebel Penguin Federation have abstained from conflict for over a year now, even refusing to get involved in the World War that occurred just a few months ago. Our purpose of being ‘Club Penguin armies’ is to fight each other, and so the top dog armies staying out of conflicts doesn’t lend well to our future.
They can set their own terms now
The Templars decision to just leave the Army Network league and withdraw themselves from the server map effectively ended the war after, as Rebel Commander F6sixer said in his own response post, 32 minutes. Both sides are anxiously waiting for the other to make the next move now, with Xing admitting several times in the CP Army HQ voice chats yesterday that he wanted the Ice Warriors to join the HQ map to fight a “1 v 1” war. This makes sense of course, as the Templars were set to declare war on the Ice Warriors today, Monday 20th, until the Rebels joined the fray and it became a “2 v 1” altercation.
This now arguably leaves the Templars with the upper hand, as they know the Black Ice Alliance armies are keen to continue the conflict they started yesterday. Why not bring the war away from the server maps entirely, and make it independent of both leagues? I did propose this idea to Xing yesterday while CP Army HQ was bringing its live coverage of the drama, and he argued a valid point: “Both armies would not be able to agree on judges. BIA would select judges that support them, and Templars would do the same. So there is no point.” This of course could be solved with an independent judging system, which we have been trying to achieve for some time now. Perhaps this drama could result in something positive moving forward for the community?
But compromise is necessary
Whether you believe the terms are unfair or not, this warfare game we play has always been manipulated by army leaders to give their own armies an upper hand in times of war and I do believe the Templars would have done the same in a similar situation. Having said that, with the fractured community we now operate in, compromise is essential for future conflicts to be possible, especially among the top armies that have the ability to leave and start their own leagues.
It’s highlighted how we failed ourselves this year
If the drama has made one thing clearer than ever before, it’s the need for a community that is united under one league, map, and set of rules. If one of the top three armies can simply leave a league to avoid a war declaration by the other two, then something isn’t working as it should. While I hope 2022 will finally bring about the unification we achieved for a short period of time in 2020 under the CP Army Hub (our most successful time as a community, might I add), I realise this is a big thing to ask and will involve people from all sides putting aside their personal grievances to benefit the community as a whole.
But perhaps the unified and independent judging system could be a place to start? If this were in place now, the war could theoretically take place still without being connected to either of the leagues or server maps – providing a more neutral battlefield that appeals to both sides. Whatever happens, the community eagerly awaits the next moves and CP Army HQ will of course be bringing you the full coverage.
