Welcome to Picture Perfect, a column where we analyze army history’s most notable moments. In this edition, we will delve into the predictions of past member Tomato, who speculated on what he assumed armies would be like in the present day.
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Whether intentional or non-intentional, everyone always tries to predict the future, whether through thoughts or visualizations. On September 25, 2011, Tomato, a Club Penguin Army Central reporter, wrote a post about his idea of the future of CPA. He began by mentioning how armies have evolved in their tactics. Initially, they mostly used emotes. This then transitioned to word tactics. Recently, armies have started using big word bubbles to counter their opponents. Today, army leaders try to balance emotes, word tactics, and big word bubbles.
Tomato also mentioned how new armies were continuously being created back then, a trend that continues today. He also noted something interesting: people who started differently did not foresee this level of success. Despite slow periods within the community, such as when members get busier and return to school in the autumn, the community remains consistent.
Tomato’s post regarding the success of armies
The Future of Communication and Evolution
Throughout the post, Tomato mentioned predictions about communication and evolution. He predicted that leaders and community members would eventually retire. As a result, he assumed no one from the past would remain in the army community. He also predicted that new leaders and legends would emerge, carrying forward what the past community left behind. As for these two predictions, Tomato was incorrect about both of them. Currently, multiple legends and members from the past have found their way back into the community. For instance, legends like Mchappy, Iceyfeet1234, Ganger90, Mustapha10x, Roberto, and others may not actively lead armies, but they are still present in the community. Although there are many new leaders and legends, the army community holds a high level of respect for the veterans and continues to learn from them.
Tomato also raised the question of whether the army community would continue using a site called Xat, which armies had used for communication and event practice. However, this change began in 2017 when Army Legend Twitchy453 started migrating armies from Xat to Discord. As of now, armies have fully transitioned to Discord. Although that has changed, his prediction about the continued use of WordPress was accurate, as all armies and leagues still use it.
Tomato’s writing regarding future communication and evolution
Armies and Their Future
The last portion Tomato wrote mentioned armies and their future. He kicked off by questioning if armies like the Army of Club Penguin, Ice Warriors, and Nachos, would be strong or dead. He also wondered if armies would need 20 troops to be considered dominant, or if they could gather over 200 troops. Also, after conducting a poll, Tomato sought to understand the community’s views on the future of armies. The results show that most members believed armies will be completely different from the past.
Army community voting on future predicitions
To answer his question, the Nachos have been shut down for over seven years now. However, the Ice Warriors are still an active community. Although they have transitioned to a gaming server, IW still log onto the current CPPS, Club Penguin Army Battleground, occasionally. Most recently, they celebrated their 17th anniversary and reached a peak of 99 members online supporting their army. As for the Clovers, the army remains active in the community, consistently appearing in the top ten as a major status and participating in tournaments and wars.
Although armies currently do not max 200+, during the COVID-19 era, armies like the Ice Warriors, Rebel Penguin Federation, Doritos of CP, and more would be able to max a high of over 100 troops. However, after the lockdown ended and people returned to their normal lives and became busier, many members of the army community retired or left. Nowadays, most major armies can easily max out at 20+ members consistently.
Regarding the polls and the community’s predictions. While aspects like war rules, tournaments, maps, and judging criteria have evolved, the core concept of armies remains unchanged.
Overall, Tomato had a balanced view of his predictions regarding the army community. Over the years, the community has grown with new armies, different leaders, emerging legends, and evolving rules to improve systems. Despite many changes, one thing that remains constant is the persistent conflicts between armies, which ultimately keeps everyone engaged. What do you think armies will be like ten years from now? Will the community continue to see new leaders emerge, or is it heading toward its end?
Fwapo
Reporter in Training
Mare
Editor in Chief