The hot topic of the Templars’ war declaration on the Rebels erupted into controversy when the Templars raided their event on June 19. According to many community members, the Templars disrupted an ‘innocent’ event. However, in my opinion, this may have been the first step towards reactivating the community under the leadership of the reunited league.
Disclaimer: The following article contains the opinions of the author only. They are not representative of the Club Penguin Armies organization.
I must acknowledge that this is a response to Zay’s article “The Templars Raid of the Rebel Penguin Federation Was Hypocritical”. Though I respect the points that Zay made in their post, I feel that a contrary perspective should be presented regarding this incident. I would also like to make it clear that I am not writing this in support of either the Templars or the Rebel Penguin Federation, but simply using their case as an example for my article.
The term ‘raid’ refers to intentionally initiating a skirmish with other armies during an event, invasion, or battle. The whole point is to attack another army without warning. A raid might occur for several reasons. It is common for raids to occur when there are tensions between the armies involved, and it usually precedes war. In the past, raids also occurred solely to capture a server that two other armies were battling for. In this situation, the war declaration took place before the raid.
The Rebels have been around since the very beginning of armies. Raids were fairly common during the original Club Penguin era, especially in 2015. Enemies have raided the Rebels in the past before full-blown wars broke out. It is not a surprise for them that the Templars raided an event after declaring war. Any war involves raids, and the only reason there haven’t been any raids in the past few months is because the community was in too much disarray to even begin a war.
It shouldn’t be the case to end wars simply because one of the armies involved does not want to fight. It all boils down to whether or not the army has the courage to take on a challenge. As an army that frequents the Top Three and won more than half the tournaments since 2020, the Rebels are certainly capable of facing such a challenge.
Although change is necessary for many communities, it certainly is not the case in armies. As soon as we find something that works for us, we stick with it until we reach a point at which refusing to change will actively harm our community. The same applies to costumed takeovers, with the concept being unchanged since its inception.
Greeny, Lime Green Army leader, said this in response to “What do you think about raiding an enemy army’s events during a war?” — a question posed in Zay’s opinion piece:
“I think it’s a bit of a scummy thing to do, as you’re not giving your opponent any room for growth.”
If the Rebels intended to go about their events in the same way as they did before the war declaration, the Templars indirectly helped them by raiding them. They forced them to rethink their monotonous plans of hosting one of their five different costumed takeovers a week. The Templars criticized the Rebels for continuing to host these events when they should have been preparing for war — were they wrong in their criticism? Leaders are responsible for being prepared to counterattack if a raid occurs on a non-battle event. The Rebel event leaders get a lot of experience from their 7+ events per week. Being able to defend their events is hardly much to expect from leaders of such high caliber.
An image from the Templars’ raid of RPF’s Operation: Booo-rific Rebels
We are losing sight of the context in which this raid occurred when we label tactics such as “YOU SUCK” and “F6 FAILED AT LEADING” as toxic. It is only after all other attempts to reconcile have failed that war occurs. It is absurd to expect politeness from either army during a war. Trash talking is the most common reason for war in armies. What is truly unfair is to expect the army that declared war to remain silent in face of disrespect. My understanding is that no personal attacks (or worse) took place during this brawl. However, I agree that some of the comments on the web posts were not exactly ethical.
“Many of their members were also left confused and upset that the event they were looking forward to was ruined.” I am curious about the reason behind their confusion. I believe that the Rebels did not attempt to conceal the fact that they are at war with the Templars. The event in question is not private. I base this claim on the fact that the Rebels would not have opposed another army’s members attending this event to support their max. Is it so confusing that the Templars raided a public event during the war? Surely trained troops are perceptive enough to assist their leaders in a spur-of-the-moment battle.
While they had the option of staying and defending their event, the Rebels chose to retreat to another server. This led to a drop in their size. Are the Templars to blame for the Rebels’ decision not to respond? Moreover, the Templars respected the Rebels’ decision to retreat to another server and pretty much left them alone after that point.
The Rebels successfully hosted their costumed takeover after retreating to another server
We need to start acting like armies. The purpose of this game is to create an experience that differs from the monotony of everyday life. Raids are a part of this game. Accusing raids of being low-class moves would amount to rejecting the entire premise of this conflict-based community. After all, war and everything involved in them is one of the primary ways through which we can interact with other armies.
Now, it is high time we start becoming more active as armies. Peace in this community would be nothing short of a step towards the end of the game, as envisioned by the pioneers of the community in 2017 when the original Club Penguin died.