Armies have been in a state of flux recently. It no longer has wars. People have suggested moving to a seasonal esports structure. Here is the truth: the solution is to go back. And I do not just mean back to how we were in 2020, or even 2017. No, we need to go back to the beginning and completely redesign CPA.
Designed by Master DS
The community has fallen apart. Visitor chats detached from the main chat are now common, and the Club Penguin Armies Discord has fewer than a thousand people in it. The community no longer exists in its entirety; it has now fragmented into smaller communities that gather a few times a year and compete against each other in a tournament. This structure will end this community. We are not in a “golden age”. There has not been a golden age in years. Nearly every suggestion to “move us forward” is only speeding up CPA’s death. We need to go back to the beginning and completely redesign CPA.
A Look Back
2007
In 2007, armies fought over Mammoth, as it was both the birthplace of armies and also an incredibly active server, as well as other popular servers, as they were almost always active and, as a result, made for great recruiting grounds. Armies would claim a server and then patrol it, searching for other armies that tried to use the server, while recruiting. If another army were found to use the server, then the army that claimed the server would declare war, and the process would repeat.
The warfare was also vastly different, heavily driven by LARPing, throwing snowballs, and chants. It opened the community up to rogues. You did not have to be in an army properly; you could just see a color and a name and decide “that side is way cooler, I will join them”, and once the battle ended, you would log off and move on. This gameplay loop relied heavily on Club Penguin. Thanks to interviews with Compwiz, we also know many of the conflicts of the time were natural and occurred when members of different armies saw each other on a server, and they would begin a fight. Without Club Penguin, this warfare style falls apart.
2011
Then, around 2011, servers were overall not nearly as inhabited as they once were. Most of the popular servers were on the first page, and Club Penguin began putting restrictions on armies regarding recruiting. As a result, servers were no longer about recruiting, and were simply a way to say “we own a lot of servers”, or bragging rights. Combine that with a change in warfare style to a style driven by emotes and formations rather than charges and snowball throwing and chants, and this turn is where I would argue armies began to fall off. Battles were no longer about Club Penguin; battles took place on Club Penguin.
However, they still maintained many of the core mechanics of 2007 in this year, such as raids and invasions. By 2011, most battles were planned on outside websites and chats, then people would log on to Club Penguin for their battle, and most would log off as soon as the battle was over. This style of battle had its own problems, mainly that when armies were small, it was far easier to feel due to the lessened movement when compared to the 2007 battles.
CPPS Era
Late 2017 and early 2018 were a sort of merger of the 2, combining 2007’s in-game loop with 2011’s lack of emphasis on servers as recruiting grounds and outside scheduling. Combine that with wars having moral and political objectives (see the War of Roman Subjugation, War Against Dillon, and War on Elite Guardians Imperialism), and you twist 2007 armies. This, I would argue, was the last style of battle that was a conduit for wars.
And now, the modern day. Take everything I said about 2007 and 2017 and throw it out the window. Take what I said about 2011 and combine it with more mistakes. A “map” to show who owns land, but has no real purpose outside of bragging rights. Judges who decide victors for EVERY SINGLE BATTLE, which DESTROYS any potential for growth in the gameplay loop. No more raids, no dancing, no snowballs, no potential for rogues to get involved. It is a flat, flaccid style that only works in spectacle situations (such as finals of tournaments). It does not work when the 2 armies are max 25 or fewer, and I would argue this actively exposes how poor the state of the community is. Ironically, many of our problems as a community can be traced back to poor game design decisions.
The Best Loop
I believe in terms of pure game design, 2017 armies had the absolute best game design in our community’s history. Our gameplay loop was designed in a way that countered the extremely small size of the community. By being more focused on movement and overall engagement, the small sizes were easier to overcome. I believe that the amount of LARP was perfect and set up situations that actually felt like they had stakes, most notably the War of Roman Subjugation. There was plenty of room for rogues to be part of battles (Rebel Penguin Federation – Underground Mafias Army battle, June 2017). However, this style had its own pitfalls. The lack of clear objectives often hurts us and leads to excruciatingly long battles. I believe that if all of CPA followed the 2017 model, we would have no problems with CPPSes, as we would serve as a constant presence and a great way to increase activity.
The Future
The obvious change we could make is a teardown of CPA. Completely restart. If I were to be in charge of a revamp of our systems, here is how I would do it. But first, let me establish what the goals of any revamp should be. For starters, a revamp should focus on re-introducing CPA to the wider CPPS community. We should be on these other platforms and trying to inspire grassroots armies so our community can continue to thrive. We should be finding a way to make the regular troops more engaged in the battle.
For starters, let’s get rid of the map. PERHAPS a map could come back later, but as it stands, it actively harms CPA. Next, let’s start to experiment with other warfare styles on different CPPSes. Reintroduce the wider Club Penguin community to armies and improve their opinions of us. Focus on a style that encourages movement and player engagement. Cut down the rules to ONLY being about player safety.
CPA desperately needs a refresh in terms of game design. The question is, who will actually do it?
Dillon
OpEd Contributor