Over the years, the community has changed massively. These changes have seen many army members come and go. We aim to find out what veterans think about the community today.
Designed by Master DS
Within the army community, members often have varied experiences. These experiences allow them to gain knowledge that they can pass on to the new generation. This can see many army veterans remain somewhat active within the community long after they retire. Some choose to advise an army after retiring, however, this is not always the case. Some veterans choose to stay in the community without a key role while others like to take up judging or even administration duties. But, no matter what a veteran decides to do, many keep an eye on the community and its status.
Over the years, many people have speculated the end of armies and many veterans have had their own say on this. Opinions have varied but one sure thing is that armies are still alive and kicking today. Many questions are still held about the future of armies and comparisons are made between the past and present. Yet, the community continues to surprise people with its longevity and sudden activity boosts.
With that said Club Penguin Armies decided to approach a select few veterans to get their insight and opinions.
Aaronstone is currently serving as a Head of the High Council of the Water Vikings and is an army Legend. Kally previously served as leader of the Ice Warriors but now is a Moderator within Club Penguin Armies. She is also an army Legend. Spotty is most known for her role as a Head Judge and a previous CPA Administrator. Mchappy is the current administrator of CPA as well as being an army Legend. Finally, Superhero is the army Legend who is responsible for creating CPA Battleground.
These veterans come from different walks of life and currently fulfil various roles. However, one thing they have in common is they all are still a part of the community. Let’s find out what they have to say.
What do you think the current landscape of CPA is?
Aaronstone: I think the current landscape of CPA is pretty poor, armies don’t really do much,wars are boring etc,the only fun stuff are tournaments
Kally: Honestly people still take it too seriously.
Spotty: Currently I think CPA seems to be in a somewhat stalemate, with armies awaiting a new map, and between tournaments there seems to b wase little to no action. When there is action, most of the time armies try their best to escape or avoid war, with both the league and armies frequently losing staff members as retirements become more common these days.
McHappy: Genuinely, I have more negatives things to say than positive. For the most part, I believe armies work within their own bubble; some armies use this to their advantage and are able to provide their army with a very fun experience. However, as a whole, I see glaring issues within the community at large.
What army, in your opinion, is performing the best?
Aaronstone: In terms of battle effectiveness RPF because they’re always tough to beat even now and overall most likely EGCP I think they have a good team there and it shows by their placements.
Kally: Honestly I’m not up to speed as well as I’d like to be to answer that question fairly.
Spotty: Currently I would have to say it is the Army of Club Penguin, as they have constantly been dominating not only the Top Ten, but wars and tournaments too. Unlike some armies, ACP have not been involved in any recent drama, or have been discovered hiding events, due to them not being afraid about having a bad day or week. Therefore without a doubt they’re the best army at current, not just from a size and battle performance point of view but they are also honest and are extremely active in the community.
McHappy: I’m not sure there is any one army that is clearly outperforming the others. I will say that it feels like all of the active armies offer a different and unique experience from one another.
Do you see yourself coming back to serve in an army?
Aaronstone: I continue to serve right now as Head Of The High Council of the Vikings.
Kally: I don’t see myself leading any army or being staff anywhere anymore. I really prefer giving advice, and doing stuff whenever I feel like doing it. I don’t think people should come back after retiring, unless the place they’d be returning to is in desperate need of help.
Spotty: I do not see myself ever enlisting in another army again, if I were to go back to anything it would be something related to the community. Due to being a Head Judge, it is easier, and I prefer to stay unaffiliated. However I will attend any cow event, and I’m likely to be seen at a Help Force anniversary event
McHappy: I will not come back serving my former army. Club Penguin Armies will be my last acts of service to this community.
Where do you envision the future of CPA heading?
Aaronstone: Death.
Kally: The future won’t be getting much better imo. To be realistic, most people recruited into CPA didn’t join for penguin games. So I expect that there’ll be more variation and volume in non-penguin activities armies/servers offer.
Spotty: I would like to hope it would improve and become more active, I think both armies and league need to listen more to the community, as currently any criticisms are shut down or ignored. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see multiple dramas before the end of the year, especially with all the award ceremonies and Christmas Chaos coming soon.
McHappy: I think we are past the point of, “Armies will die!” As long as there is some form of Club Penguin community, armies will be here in some form. Thus, I see the community continuing down the path that we’ve been seeing of less competition, with more of an emphasis on community management.
These veterans have a lot to say about armies and their opinions are as diverse as the journeys they have walked. However, there is still one person we have not heard from yet. That person is Superhero. We asked the four veterans above about the present and the future, including where they think CPA is heading. However, Superhero was tasked with a different question. Superhero was asked about his vision for Club Penguin armies and where he’d like to see it going.
Here is his response:
Personally I always believed that the essence of CPA is Wars and Tournaments, generally any sort of competitive army battling. It is what keeps troops excited and what motivates leaders to grind and innovate. On my ideal army world warfare is constant but an army map is not a necessity, however whatever system is implemented frequent maps/scoreboard/whatever resets are great to ensure things never get stagnant.
However, in my vision there is zero room for toxicity in army affairs. People should always remember that CPA is just a game, and is supposed to be a past fun time. They should also remember that your army achievements mean nothing if achieved through immoral means. Fair play is a requirement for success to be truly valid. An army that maxes 5 without multilogging is much more respectable than an army that maxes 50 with 10 multilogs, and nothing will ever convince me otherwise.
To end this on a positive note, we have massively minimized more serious instances of foul play such as DDoS attacks, doxing situation etc which were extremely prevalent in some periods of CPA history. I feel this is something we should be happy about.
My opinion on the future of CPA: I believe armies are on a relatively stable environment currently, perhaps the most stability we have had since Club Penguin shutdown. Most of Club Penguin’s original playerbase has aged was too much for CPPSes, which has also resulted in having no enormous CPPSes like those of the past few years, combined with COVID lockdowns ending. However, CPA’s competitive nature keeps attracting people from totally unrelated gaming backgrounds so I believe there is a valid future for armies with acceptable sizes. In my opinion whether the community will get bigger or not depends on how boring it is going to be (main factor that defines recruit retention), as well as how well we market ourselves to outsider gamers.
Superhero definitely had a lot to say about the landscape of armies and his vision. Despite not leading any armies, most of these veterans seem passionate about armies. Super wants to see CPA continue to be competitive in a non-toxic way. This can be said for a lot of people within the community as members push their armies to improve daily.
In comparison to last year, the community has been a lot more competitive and active but can this momentum be kept up? Do you agree with any of the veterans? Do you think that armies will continue to be competitive? Or does a change need to happen to help the community grow?
More Information
Mchappy is interning at Club Penguin Armies as the Chief Executive Producer. Max held him at gunpoint to finish his biography.
From what I’ve seen, CPA has always been the most alive when club penguin is doing well. When CPO was super popular, armies were thriving because there was a player base to recruit off of, and people genuinely enjoyed playing the game. So obviously finding a group that you can play the game with and have epic battles with would really appeal to new members. That one spanish army did well with Super Club Penguin because there were so many players to bring in from there. If you recruit from other games, those people usually aren’t too interested in Club Penguin. All the excitement in Club Penguin Armies is dead now. I feel so sad when I think about armies because all I can envision is a dead horse being kicked around. I don’t think CPA needs to die, all these old people just need to move on with their lives and give the community to the new people. The trouble is, there’s not a lot of new people. You just have to make armies exciting again, which wars do. Just like what Superhero said. Despite what a lot of people say, CPA by itself really isn’t bad, it’s actually awesome for kids and teenagers to find a community to be a part of and feel like they can contribute to something bigger than themselves. I learned a lot from armies, I just wish I hadn’t prioritized it over everything else and I wish I’d avoided all the unnecessary drama. Honestly CPA is really cool, but like every community, the people can make or break it. I’ve moved on with my life but it will always bring me a lot of joy to think about CPA, it never ceases to interest me. But yeah I think overall the best way to revive CPA is to make it exciting again, and then hand it off to the new people. These roblox kids can be pretty capable if you just give them a chance (cough Nicky cough). You’re not meant to spend your life here, there’s more out there