Despite the Club Penguin army community’s roots in a popular online video game, most armies today relegate themselves to events on CPA Battleground. With the continuous growth of CPPS websites such as CP Journey, I believe that it is foolish to ignore this lifeline available to our community.

Designed by Edu

What Is A CPPS?

Club Penguin Private Servers (CPPS) are emulations of the original Club Penguin game, which operated from 2005 to 2017. Though the CPPS community has existed in varying degrees for over a decade, CPPS’s gained a surge in popularity following the closure of Club Penguin. Some notable examples of these websites were CP Rewritten (CPR) and CP Online (CPO), peaking in user count during the global COVID-19 lockdowns. According to their private Twitter account, one million users had reportedly registered for CPO from the 27th of March to the 8th of April 2020, amounting to seven million accounts in total. Both CPPS communities served as platforms for armies to host events, with CPO hosting an official army league.

Penguin advertising group therapy on CP Rewritten

With army battles becoming larger and more intense, the need arose for a CPPS dedicated to warfare. The first army CPPS was Club Penguin Armies: The Game, founded by army legend Superhero123. Super went on to create CPA Battleground (CPAB), which currently serves as the most widely used army platform. While most CPPS websites are public, CPAB only verifies accounts if the user is in an army. Consequentially, CPAB does not have a regular player base like CPO or CPR did. The ongoing need for a stable army-based CPPS is valid, with the largest private servers closing for various reasons by 2022. Nonetheless, while new CPPS’s such as CP Journey and CP Avalanche grow in popularity, many armies have relegated themselves to isolation on CPAB. 

Outside of army events, CPAB is empty

return to tradition

As the name implies, “Club Penguin” armies prospered as groups of young individuals with a shared interest in this multiplayer game. Army of Club Penguin creator Oagalthorp did not begin his army by violating the Discord terms of service to recruiting Roblox children. Rather, ACP and its contemporaries managed to soar as the first armies by recruiting interested players to their cause. Up until Disney updated their message filters to combat autotyping, this is how the bulk of armies secured their place in the sun. A majority of individuals from the pre-CPPS era would have anecdotes of how they found their first army waddling on Club Penguin, including myself. According to the 2014 Census on Club Penguin Army Central, in which almost 400 users participated, 50% of individuals first found CPA through Club Penguin itself.

Graphic from the 2014 Census

While it is definitely true that the present Club Penguin community is minuscule when compared to 2014, the importance of our active presence in the broader community is undeniable. Even in contemporary times, armies such as Help Force established a strong reputation as “helpers” on websites like CPO and CPR, assisting players with stamp collection and other activities. Though the use of CP Online was controversial due to moderators rewarding army event attendees with coins, army leaders of the time evidently recognised the importance of a platform that emulated the original Club Penguin.

Many soldiers were first exposed to armies due to battles

Welcome Back To The Dark Ages

Though external platforms for recruiting have always existed, such as XAT chat-rooms or Discord, Club Penguin and public CPPS’s have always been the most effective. Regressive CPAB-purists would assert that it is not possible to recruit on private servers, which is largely true. However, nothing stops you from telling spectators about your army if they ask about it during events. Making friends in-game and bringing them into your army also seems to be perfectly valid. Although the People’s Imperial Confederation does not see the same maximum sizes on CPAB, CP Journey has undoubtedly contributed to the army’s growth and re-classification as Major. Whether it be through costume events or website CPPS guides, new CPJ players join the army every day. The Rebel Penguin Federation, arguably the most successful army of the CPPS era, also places a strong emphasis on CP Journey activities and guides.

PIC’s monthly website views since the publication of CPJ guides, underlined in red (click to enlarge)

As most armies continue to use Discord as the only means of recruiting, with a small or non-existent public CPPS presence, it seems we are returning to the Dark Ages of 2015 to 2017. When Disney began to aggressively combat autotypers by banning any possible reference to armies, recruiting from Club Penguin became virtually impossible. Thus, only three real solutions remained. You would have to autotype with incomprehensible phrases to bypass the filter before swiftly getting banned, attempt to recruit from the dying XAT chat-rooms, or multilog events. It seems we are returning to a similar status quo, with a plethora of armies clinging onto the Discord recruiting that becomes more restricting as each day passes. Hardly any Discord recruits actually care about armies, troop retention is rapidly declining. There is one clear solution.

Classic screenshot of army autotypers

become cpps-pilled

Though websites such as CP Journey are still lacking in player count compared to their predecessors, the modern HTML5 CPPS community is growing consistently. With new milestones constantly reached and talks of potential new servers for CP Journey, the Club Penguin army community is sitting atop a gold mine. Instead of discrediting those who attempt to establish their army’s name in the CPPS community, perhaps it would be prudent to learn from the legends and leaders who came before us.

CP Journey Cadence Mascot Meet-up

If I were to go through the list of CPA’s original legends, almost all of them would be discredited if I applied the same standards many of you do today. These leaders were not “cutting corners” by meeting up on Club Penguin, this is what armies were all about! Following the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns, we desperately need innovation to keep our community afloat. Discord recruiting is here to stay (and it is definitely integral to our communities) but it is not enough.

Imagine the growth an army like Water Vikings would see if they put in the same effort as PIC regarding CPPS guides and CPJ community presence, having twice PIC’s staff and resources. There is no need to make exclusive partnerships like the Elite Guardians did with CP Avalanche, the potential bounty is already great enough. As I have managed to demonstrate, the new HTML5 CPPS’s seem to be the way forward. The question is, however, will your army be left behind?

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