Club Penguin

Club Penguin, commonly abbreviated as CP, is a MMORPG designed for children and teenagers 6 to 14 (but it's open for all ages) that was developed by New Horizon Interactive. Using cartoon penguin avatars, players can chat, play mini games, and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. Club Penguin was first made available to the public on October 24, 2005 on 12:00 PM (Penguin Standard Time) and has since then expanded into a large online community. Club Penguin shares similarities with other popular browser-based online environments such as RuneScape and Habbo Hotel. Though open to everyone, Club Penguin is primarily designed for children aged six to fourteen, and has been qualified for the Better Business Bureau - Kid's Privacy Seal of Approval. Club Penguin was also awarded the "Editor's Choice" award from Children's Technology Review Magazine.

Though a large amount of the game can be played for free, some of features are not available unless a membership is purchased. These features include: upgrading and buying things for your personal igloo, buying clothes, hats,accessories for your penguin and wigs.



Club Penguin world
Club Penguin is essentially a chatroom that takes place in a 2D world (from an isometric point of view) divided into several rooms. These rooms can be either outdoor or indoor rooms. Outdoor rooms usually are more popular because getting there is much more easier (you can be transported to an outdoor room instantaneously via the Map) and they offer more links to other rooms. Outdoor rooms are also the gateways to indoor rooms. Indoor rooms offer a lot more to do within them; players can find books to read, minigames to play and missions to participate within.

History
Before Club Penguin, there was a game created by Rocketsnail (Rsnail) called Penguin Chat. Penguin Chat was the game that Club Penguin was based on. In 2005 this game was closed and the players were told to move to a new game known as Club Penguin. Ever since beta testing, Club Penguin has grown to one of the most popular online games and has over 35 million users worldwide.

Penguin Avatars
After registering an account, users can create their own penguin avatar and igloo, initially only choosing their color. Each penguin also owns an igloo (igloos are not located in Club Penguin proper, and can only be entered through a buddy list or the igloo gateway), and users that have paid for a membership can further decorate this igloo. Pets known as puffles can also be purchased, and they can be kept in the owner's igloo or taken for walks.

The gameplay input of Club Penguin uses the mouse and the keyboard, players click where they want to waddle to within a room. Although the whole can room can hear what one penguin says, players often waddle near their friends or to people they want to talk to.

Chatting
All penguins have the privilege to chat to one another, however filters have been introduced by New Horizon Interactive to prevent messages being sent that include certain blocked words. Messages appear in speech bubbles and a history of messages within a room can be seen by clicking on a drop-down at the top of the screen. Whenever someone swears or uses a swearing acronym, the message does not show up (asterik or direct censoring is absent in Club Penguin, in order for it to not suggest spoken swear words within the game) and pop-up message indicates that you have been banned for a certain amount of time. When registering an account, the player has to select their age, and if they have selected an age under 18, the player needs their parent/caregiver's permission in order to register. Furthermore, parents can choose whether their children communicate through Safe Chat or Normal Chat. Safe Chat uses a variety of preset messages so players can communicate safely. Safe Chat is also available for players with Normal Chat. Numbers do not show up when chatting. This move ensured that players could not reveal their age or phone number to other players. Also you cannot say the number like a word, e.g "I'm twelve" or "nine". its cool

Stamps
Penguins can earn stamps by doing certian things in minigames like catching the mullet in aqua grabber or comleting the secret levels in astro barrier. Stamps can be found in the regular game such as doing the swim action in the pool or meeting Rockhopper when he is on club penguin.

2011 Stamp Riots
In Febuary 2011 riots broke out when players stamps were wiped from their stampbooks the biggest roits took place on the server Avalanche led by a penguin named Doyfinson with chants of "Riot!", "Sue Disney!" and "We want stamps." These riots filled the Town, Snow Forts and Dock with smaller protests in other rooms. Similar roits took place on other servers and many people Jackhammered wore yellow orange and red symbolizing fire and many fire ninjas using their suits to create fire. The issue was resolved as servers and rooms filled causing the game to run slowly.

This may be related to the 2011 Club Penguin Membership Protests (see below), but it is unknown if the two protests are related or have coincidentially happened in the same year.

Economy
The Economy of Club Penguin revolves around mini games and the coin system. Money can be earned via playing mini-games, which can be both single-player, and multiplayer. Items such as: clothing, furniture or pets, can be bought to accommodate the lifestyle of a character in Club Penguin.

Membership

 * See main article: Membership

Members are players who pay for extra benefits in the world of Club Penguin. They count as about 2/3 of the active population. Members can use coins to buy clothing, furniture and puffles - domesticated animals, which are kept as pets. They also have the privileges for VIP rooms and are more recognized in Club Penguin. However, non-members can still acquire items, which are usually given out at "parties". Members also attend exclusive parties and events and get stamps that other's can't get.

2011 Club Penguin Membership Protests
As of March 22, 2011, protests against Membership have been done on servers Big Surf and Aurora. It is unknown who started it, but many say it has been plotted a long time ago. This protest is ongoing.

Many have stated that Billybob is a dictator, and that he only cares about his money. After the two servers were completely flooded by penguins, people began taking sides. It is a rumour that riots might spread on the other servers.

As of March 24th, 2011, Yukon has been attacked with one user, asking not to reveal his username due to Club Penguin Rules, protesting to stop Membership. Lately it has been rumoured that he began the protests, although he claims he only joined that day. Some rumour he is a hacker.

On March 26th, 2011, one CP nonmember girl claims she has been abused and sworn to by Billybob supporters. She is now being called a traitor and it is unknown if she was banned. Hit Servers (As of March 24th)

Already hit servers: Aurora, Big Surf, Yukon

Possibly hit servers: Ascent

Soon-to-be hit servers: Brumby, Freezer, Ice Box, Blizzard, Avalanche

If you are found on any of the above-mentioned servers, they are likely (but not neccesarily) to be hit by the Membership Protests.

Parties
Parties are monthly events that are immensely popular in Club Penguin. The island is usually decorated to fit the theme, and as aforementioned, free items are given to non members. In some parties, members can gain VIP access to a special, exclusive room which is only available at the time of the party, and thereby called The Party. Parties usually last to around one week, but if it is of significance (e.g. Halloween, Christmas) the time is usually extended.

CPIP

 * See main article: Club Penguin Improvement Project

In Spring 2008, there was a project called CPIP when Club Penguin was upgraded to version 2. While the designers and programmers worked on the new features, penguins played the beta testing version of the new Club Penguin. The project was finished and closed on July 13, 2008.

Languages
Club Penguin is currently available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. There is a rumor that Club Penguin will offer more languages in the future. A common bug in Club Penguin is where the game files from two different languages are swapped around causing confusion.

Headline text
Club Penguin headline text is not avalible right now.

Technical
Internally, Club Penguin is powered by LAMP servers for the websites. SmartFox servers are used in the game.

On the administrative side, Plesk, ClickZ, WinHTTrack, The Web Developer toolbar (for Firefox), and Firebug are used.

Toys
Club Penguin has sold many merchandise such as stuffed plush penguins and puffles, Mix and Match figures (in which head, body, some items, and lower parts of a penguin come off to mix with another set or another penguin in the same set) and Card-Jitsu Cards; including Card-Jitsu Fire and Water cards.

These toys can be bought at many stores worldwide, but are most notably found at Toys 'R' Us.

Books
Several books, such as "The Ultimate Official Club Penguin Guide Volume 1","The Official Stage Playbook","Secret Agent Handbook", "Stowaway! Adventures at Sea" and "Waddle Lot of Laughs" have been published by Club Penguin.

Games
Club Penguin has 3 games available in stores. 2 On Nintendo DS, and 1 on Nintendo Wii. Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force for DS, Club Penguin: Herberts Revenge also for DS, Club Penguin: Game Day for Wii.

Spin-off video games
Several video games based on Club Penguin have been published:


 * Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force (Nintendo DS)
 * Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge (Nintendo DS)
 * Club Penguin: Game Day! (Nintendo Wii)

Sites supporting Club Penguin
Club Penguin can be played via five different websites:


 * ClubPenguin.com
 * Miniclip.com
 * Disney.com
 * WildTangent Orb
 * 

Trivia

 * Club Penguin's Business Number is 1-888-861-4111. Only call if you have any serious questions or if you want to unban your forever banned penguin (lots of users have successfully accomplished this before).
 * This Shot clearly shows a remark about 'iPhone Phase 1.a', and Underneath it says 'Mobile Sever'. This may mean that CP might be released for the iPhone. See: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ob8lDy6Ekbc/TRgPexn0jjI/AAAAAAAAEPU/S5ernRTpa0M/s1600/penguin-schedule.jpg