Nearly one month ago, the Water Vikings went on lockdown, and now they are back. With their re-opening and Olympics week coming to an end, let us take a look back at what has been an eventful week for the Vikings.
Designed by Master DS
On July 15th, the Water Vikings went on lockdown after experiencing some hardships within the army. Before shutting down, the Vikings failed to hit a size average of 20+ for three consecutive weeks. This led them to drop down to small/medium army status. However, the fall of the Vikings did not occur out of nowhere. In recent months, the Vikings have said farewell to multiple leaders including Dino, who led the Vikings to their Christmas Chaos and March Madness victories.
Despite trying to progress in the Legends Cup tournament, the Vikings were knocked out in the second round of the Loser’s Bracket. It was following this loss that the Vikings announced their “lockdown” on July 15. The announcement of the lockdown saw the Vikings prepare to undergo some changes. This included server renovation, the opening of Staff/HCOM applications and internal changes.
Clare’s announcement regarding the lockdown
Almost three weeks after the announcement of their lockdown, the Water Vikings announced that they would be reopening its doors. The reopening was celebrated with a week dedicated to the Olympics. Following the announcement, five teams were formed, team Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Black. Throughout the week, many events and mini-games were held, both on and off CPABattleground to allow each team to try and win points.
However, it was not all fun and games. Despite the Vikings’ successful return seeing many members put into teams, changes were made within the army’s leadership. On August 10th, Aaronstone, Water Vikings High Council member, announced that the army would be parting ways with Leader, Mei. The announcement came after a misconduct investigation which saw Mei’s loyalty to the army waver. Alongside this, the were other instances of misconduct, however, they were not publically revealed.
On August 13, Aaronstone went on to reveal further reasoning for Mei’s removal. Aaron stated that Mei planned to depart for another army following their two-week leave period from the Vikings. However, she had refused to retire/step down in the past. This led the action to be perceived as “impudent and improper”. Additionally, favours were handed out to unauthorised people. Overall, the High Council felt that she did not uphold her responsibilities as a leader, leading to her removal.
Water Vikings’ statement on Mei’s departure
Following on from this announcement, the Olympics continued to take place. The Olympics featured a variety of mini-games and events. These mini-games and events included a dance contest, a card-jitsu tournament, and a uniform design competition. After the games finished, the Olympic events were reviewed, and a winner was chosen. Ultimately, after several events and competitions, the Black team were announced as victors. However, the final results saw just two points between first and third place.
Outside of the Olympics, the Vikings returned the the Top Tens once again. In their first week back, the Vikings were able to rank sixth, above Secret Service, Rebel Penguin Federation and Help Force. During their Olympics week, they hosted nine events, helping them to secure their place in the Top Ten.
After the Olympics ended, a closing ceremony took place on August 13. The ceremony saw the winning team congratulated and prizes given out to participants. Additionally, members were encouraged to wear an outfit representing their culture or country. Approximately 16 penguins turned up for the closing ceremony, saying farewell to ‘Olympics Week’.
The results of the Olympics
With the Olympics coming to a close, the Vikings will now be able to focus on the army community, once again. What do the Vikings have in store next? Club Penguin Armies approached Water Vikings Leader, Ryebread, to find out more.
What led to the lockdown of the army?
We felt like over the past couple months with many important faces leaving (most notably Dino, Mabel, and Cabin) there were a lot of things left unfinished or they just stopped entirely. Leadership was very upset with this but we couldn’t put our focus towards it because we had ATWC – war – LC. Once LC was past us we locked down the server to regroup, and return the things in WV that were once forgotten.
What are some of the changes, if any, you’ve made that you believe will lead the army to greater success?
Re-introduced our Parka Committee and Ocean Oracle branches, which focus on our fun events/activities and our website respectively. Additionally, we have added a new branch, Methods Overhaul, which will manage all statistics; all our events, how they performed, what can be better, etc. We also changed up some of the channels, added a new verification system, and are currently working on a new roles menu. We hope that these improvements will being more engagement to the server.
With the amount of participants in mind, do you consider the Olympics to be a success?
To be honest, I know that the games would have been more fun with more people. But that doesnt mean to say they werent successful. There was one event where we couldn’t count the scoring, which was very unfortunate. Given that this was our first week returning from a 3 week long hiatus, the Olympics was a great success that helped us bounce back.
What’s next for the Vikings?
We have lots planned! The simple stuff, of course— events every week, daily pings, and joining the map. Ocean Oracle will be a more prominent feature in the server too, with new columns, editorials and weekly recaps.
Do you have any comments for our readers or the community?
A tsunami is approaching… FEAR THE WAVE ༄
With the Olympics now over, the Vikings can focus on their weekly schedule, hopefully aiming to rejoin the CPA map. While the Vikings may plan to return to the map, nearly all the land on the CPA map is already taken. Will a potential return to the map see a new war break out? Only time will tell. For now, we at Club Penguin Armies wish the Vikings the best of luck in their future endeavours.
Coolguy
Executive Producer