Club Penguin
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| Club Penguin | |
|---|---|
| File:ClubPenguin.png | |
| Developer(s) | New Horizon Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | New Horizon Interactive |
| Engine | Adobe Flash |
| Platform(s) | OS Independent (Web Based Flash) (Flash 6 Required) |
| Release | October 24, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Club Penguin is a massively multiplayer online game for kids developed by New Horizon Interactive. Using cartoon penguin avatars, players can converse, play minigames, and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world.[1] Club Penguin was first made available to the public on October 24, 2005[2], and has since expanded into a large online community.
Club Penguin shares similarities with other popular online environments like RuneScape and Habbo Hotel. Though open to all kids, Club Penguin is primarily designed for children age eight to fourteen,[3] and has been qualified for the Better Business Bureau - Kid’s Privacy Seal of Approval.[4] Club Penguin was also awarded the "Editors Choice" award from Children's Technology Review Magazine.[5]
A merchandise section, "The Shop", opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006[6], selling stuffed puffles and T-shirts. Keychains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.[7]
Though the game can be played for free, many of the features are not available unless a subscription is purchased.[8]
Environment
To move about Club Penguin, players click where they want to go. To enter or leave a building, one clicks on the door.
Each player is provided with an igloo for a home. Members have the option of opening their igloo so other penguins can access it via the map. Members may also decorate their igloos with items bought with money earned by playing minigames.
Many game locations can be accessed by clicking on the Club Penguin map. Some places, such as the Attic, are reached by clicking its general area on the map then walking the penguin to the specific location. Other places, such as Rockhopper's Ship, The Migrator, are only available on certain days.
Membership
Paid subscription
Players who become members (by paying $5.95 every month, $29.95 for six months, or $57.95 USD for a year) get many benefits. They may buy anything from shops, own multiple puffles, enjoy early access to new parts of the game, buy furniture for their puffles, and have access to all puffle breeds. Members also have access to Members only Parties hosted by Club Penguin.[9] Recently a huge petition came up to make Club Penguin completely free. If this petition succeeds, there will only be free accounts.
Non-membership
Club Penguin provides a non-membership option. Although such play is free, it does not include all of the benefits of being a member. Non-members may still buy colors and player-card backgrounds, and can go anywhere (except during member parties) as well as play games. Non-members may also receive and use items given out at parties that are sometimes thrown for all players. Non-members are also restricted to only two puffles, and may buy only in the colors red, or blue.
Rockhopper
Rockhopper is a pirate who sails the seas on his trusty ship, The Migrator; he arrives at Club Penguin every two months or so and brings new items for penguins. He has a Red Puffle he calls Yarr because it goes to him whenever he says it. Rockhopper's third docking was on 9 February 2007.
Whenever Rockhopper arrives in Club Penguin, he brings several items along with him; some items are free and available for both members and non-members, but most of the items can only be purchased by members. These items usually consist of rare clothing associated with colonial times.
Rockhopper's journal
Every time he has visited the shores of Club Penguin, Rockhopper brought along his journal which tells of his journeys through the seas. The journal can be viewed by anyone while on The Migrator. When Rockhopper visited in October 2006, his journal stated that two years before (sometime in 2004), he set sail away from Club Penguin because of a devastating blizzard. This information was also available when the Lighthouse was under construction in Fall 2006.
Club Penguin events
Every month, there is a party on Club Penguin. The party may be for a holiday such as April Fool's Day, Halloween or Christmas, or it may be random, as occurs when no major holiday is celebrated or chosen in a particular month. A new, free article of clothing is made available with each non-member party. Most recently, a second free item has been included as well. The first party on Club Penguin was the Beta Test Party at which beta testers received a party hat.[10]
The latest party, Festival of Snow, featured ice sculptures patterned after drawings sent in by players. By clicking on a yellow sign with each sculpture, one could see the original drawing and who submitted it,[11] displayed on a black plaque with a big golden border.
Items
Players may use the coins they collect by playing minigames to purchase various items. To adopt puffles, one must enter the pet shop. After clicking on the red book, in the lower right-hand corner, a player may adopt a puffle and learn how to care for it. In the yellow book (directly above the red one), members may purchase furniture items for their puffles. To purchase a colour, background or an item, players may enter the Gift Shop or Sport Shop and click on the book titled "Penguin Style", which allows them to purchase any items that they wish. During the Festival of Snow party, the gift shop set up a store in the Plaza and gave away free snow tiaras.
There are 13 penguin colors, from which players can choose and use as often as they want. They are: Lime Green, Light Green, Dark Green, Orange, Peach, Red, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Brown, Black, Pink, Yellow, Purple, New colors are generally introduced at members-only parties. Lime Green is the latest color to be made available.
Many backgrounds are available, with two to four new ones every month. Backgrounds can be viewed when anyone clicks on a player's penguin, and can be bought by non-members.
Pins display in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card. A special Christmas Tree Pin was made available for 50 coins in a late 2006 issue of the Penguin Times newspaper.
Flags are similar to pins though are only available to members; they also appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card.
Clothes are for members only, except for the items given out for free at parties and on the pirate ship.
Furniture is for members only and can be used to design and decorate a player's igloo.
Flooring (introduced January 19, 2007) is a new feature for members only. There are currently four different floors to choose from.
Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles. Some igloo styles are themed for recent parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Igloo upgrades range from 1000 to 5100 coins depending on the style.
Free items
Players can receive other free items in addition to clothing at parties. New pins appear every two weeks and are visible in the top left-hand corner of a player card for those who find and use them. Another way to get free items is by participating in treasure (scavenger) hunts, such as searching for Lighthouse lights or recovering the band's lost instruments; these activities resulted in free player card backgrounds. The Penguin Times newspaper sometimes offers polls or fundraisers for items. During the "Save the Lighthouse" event, players may have donate 750 coins to receive a free T-Shirt. Another example is the Christmas Tree: after selecting a decoration, a player would receive the Tree pin. Rockhopper provides a free item of clothing each time he arrives, such as an eyepatch, or a pirate belt. Players who pass the Secret Agent test receive a free Spy Phone and are able to participate in secret missions, which provide more free items. Successful Tour Guide applicants get a free hat to identify them.
Lighthouse
The lighthouse of Club Penguin is situated on the beach. Upon entry, one will see a hall. On the back wall, there are stairs. On the walls are pictures of maps, penguins, the Lighthouse, Beach and Rockhopper. Going up the stairs leads to the Beacon — a much quicker way to get there is to click on the arrow pointing left on the top of the stairs that states "to top", which takes one straight to the Beacon. While up on the beacon, to the left is a telescope where one can be the first to see Rockhopper's ship, in the middle is the light, and on the right is a launchpad where one can take a flight with a jet pack.
History
According to Rockhopper, a Club Penguin pirate, before the lighthouse opened in September 2006, it had been flooded during a storm 2 years before (sometime in 2004), though Club Penguin raised enough money to re-open it through a fund in The Penguin Times. Each penguin could make a single donation of 750 coins in order to receive a free t-shirt . The re-opening included a 3-day party whose free item was a red sailor's cap. The light has changed on occasions: during the Halloween party a Jack-O-Lantern was used, and during the Christmas party a red Christmas light was put in place.
Hidden locations
The Dojo is hidden beneath the distant mountain at the top of the map. Players need to click on it to obtain access to the room.
The Iceberg is the larger of two white 'islands' in the top right corner of the map. It is rumored that the iceberg may tip when enough penguins are on it. This tipping rumor was acknowledged in the "Cheers to the New Year" article in Issue 64, page A3 of The Penguin Times, dated January 4, 2007 in which Aunt Arctic wrote "I'm determined to see the Iceberg tip in 2007!".
The Mine Shack is right behind the Plaza on the map.
The HQ is only accessible by secret agents.
Moderators
All Club Penguin areas are monitored by large teams of Moderators who ensure players are not using vulgar or bad language. Players' ideas for adding to the game and making it more fun are accepted by Moderators, who also help keep hackers from interfering with the game or cheating.[12] Moderators must be at least 18 years old, pass a criminal record check, and live in or near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.[13]
Secret Agents
Secret Agent status is available to all players, whether members or not, who have played for at least 30 days and have not been banned. These "agents" are encouraged to inform players of upcoming events and guide new members around the game. They are also asked to help keep Club Penguin safe and report anyone who is being disruptive or using offensive language; agents are not, however, official moderators.[14]
G (Gary the Gadget Guy)
'G' is one of the main secret agents and a scientist in Club Penguin. He is featured in every secret mission to date. He also invents various inventions and games for the penguins (such as Jet Pack Adventure or the test sled in the second secret mission Lost in the Wilderness). 'G' also has a pet rabbit named "Mogul". He is featured in many parts of the game, ranging from the news to agent Missions. G is portrayed in the new feature of The Penguin Times, in the section called Featured Story, called Special Section: Biography. In this new section, G is interviewed about his shop. At the top it says: Gary the Gadget Guy in big bold letters, and next to it is a big picture of him. in the bottom-right hand corner of his picture, there is a sign (which says Click to view profile) which one can click on to reveal his profile. His one says:
Name: Gary the Gadget Guy
Occupation: Town Inventor
Inventions: Jet Pack, AC 3000
Favorite Food: Fish Dish pizza
Favorite Clothing: White lab coat
Though starting with G, it is believed that this very informative addition to The Penguin Times will most probably continue with other Club Penguin characters.
Headquarters
The Agent Headquarters (HQ) is a Club Penguin location accessible only by Secret Agents, who can teleport there by clicking the Spy Phone in their player card inventory and then "Visit HQ", or by entering the right-most dressing room in the Sport Shop. The Headquarters has 21 TV screens with images of most accessible places on Club Penguin, each of which is only a click away. To the right of the TV's is a board containing a message (changed every two to four weeks) with hints and tips about activities on Club Penguin. In the bottom right corner are a book and a folder. The folder includes missions for Secret Agents; the agent handbook is titled "The F.I.S.H." (Factual Informative Spy Handbook).
If a player is in the Headquarters and he/she is searched by a buddy, that buddy is informed the player they are looking for "is hiding".
Missions
Secret agents are able to perform randomly occurring "Top Secret Missions." Successful completion of such missions yields items for the player card inventory. Two current missions, which require secret agents to use their imagination and logic, include:
- 'Case of the Missing Puffles', in which Aunt Arctic, local news reporter for The Penguin Times, has lost her green and purple puffles and the player must get them back.
- 'G's Secret Mission', in which agent 'G' gives the player a new sled which must be tested; when it fails, players need to test their survival skills.
Upon successful completion of the missions, players can earn either s Burning Log Medal, or a Puffle Medal, depending on the mission. Players who deliver the pictures of the puffle (Case of the Missing Puffles) earn a letter from Aunt Arctic. Those who make a fishing rod (G's Secret Mission) receive a letter from G. Though these missions take a lot of effort, it is rewarded well.
Tour guides
This project began January 26, 2007 with the intent of helping newcomers find their way around Club Penguin.[15] To become a tour guide, a penguin must first be at least 45 days old and have had no more than one ban (or sufficiently good behavior after more bans).[16] Being a member is not required. To apply, one goes to the Tour Booth in the Plaza and takes a quiz. The eight-question quiz tests one's knowledge such as where things are located, puffle facts, game play, and so forth. Answering seven out of the eight questions correctly wins a tour guide hat, which can be found in one's clothing inventory. Only those who have passed the test and have the hat are official tour guides. When a penguin wears only the tour guide hat and waves, a "Tours Here" sign appears. Another option while wearing the hat (with or without other items) is giving pre-written messages about the current room. To do this, one clicks the Messages icon, selects Activities, then clicks "Give a Room Tour". Messages about the room will then appear. Some rooms do not have such pre-written messages. The player is not able to say the pre-written tour messages in his/her igloo, but is allowed to in such places like the Dojo, on the iceberg and in the HQ. Despite this, there are no pre-written Tour Guide messages for being in a "Member's Igloo"
Chat
Club Penguin provides two options for inter-player communication. Ultimate Safe Chat allows players to select phrases from a list, similar to old text-adventure games. With Standard Chat, players may type any message, subject to censorship by a word filter. [17] Each game instance (server) offers one particular type of chat.
A player who swears can expect to face an automatic 24-hour ban. Though some swear words do not result in such an auto-ban, there are teams of moderators who supposedly review any chat that takes place on the site, and players caught using inappropriate language could be banned afterward. Players caught hacking Club Penguin are banned for a much longer time period. After 3 to 5 bans, a player is banned indefinitely – at least several years, or as the page will say, 'forever'.
Newspaper
 | It has been suggested that The Penguin Times be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2007. |
Club Penguin has a weekly newspaper, delivered every Thursday. It contains a number of things happening around Club Penguin. It has featured games, comics, and more. The Boiler Room under the Night Club in the Town contains an archive of newspapers for the last six weeks.
Puffles
Puffles are small fluffy creatures which each player may have as pets; they're available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, and red. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles and may have no more than two; members may adopt up to 12 puffles. When a player logs out, each puffle saves in its current position and is exactly the same upon the next login. Health, Rest and Energy levels must be full for a puffle to take part in actions.
Minigames
Various minigames are available for play within Club Penguin. Single-player games, which generally earn the player more coins, include Astro Barrier, Ballistic Biscuit, Bean Counters, Cart Surfer, Ice Fishing, Jet Pack Adventure, Puffle RoundUp, and Thin Ice (introduced on December 19, 2006). Multi-player games in Club Penguin include Find Four, Mancala, and Sledding, which reward players with up to roughly 20 coins per game. In most single-player games, one tenth of the final score is the number of penguin coins received. These coins can be used later to buy puffles, clothes, penguin colors, etc. Games are located throughout the Club Penguin world. The game Cart Surfer is slightly hidden on the mini-map, and can be accessed by clicking on the snow directly above the Plaza and right of the Snow Forts. Players may collect up to 600 coins per game, which takes about two to three minutes, making Cart Surfer one the best sources of coins. Though most games earn the player coins (1/10th of the final score in most), some games do not; they include:
- Ice Hockey (located in the ice rink)
- Snowball Fights
Both these games can be played in teams, and buddies commonly have a hockey team as well as a snow fight team. Such teaming is fun but does not earn coins.
References
- ^ Leibowitz, Wanda, "Kids' Games Online for Free: A Parent's Guide to Safe, Positive, Non-violent Sites for Young Gamers", Associated Content, July 6, 2006.
- ^ Club Penguin - It's Launched!, Club Penguin Developer Blog, October 24, 2005 (URL last accessed on September 8 2006).
- ^ "Who is Club Penguin For?", Club Penguin Q&A for Parents, URL last accessed on October 3, 2006.
- ^ Club Penguin Secures BBB OnLine Kid's Privacy Seal of Approval, Club Penguin, Press release, April 24, 2006 (URL last accessed on September 4, 2006).
- ^ Club Penguin proud of "Editor's Choice" award from Children's Technology Review Magazine, Club Penguin, notice in right sidebar (URL last accessed on November 22, 2006).
- ^ "NOW OPEN!!!". Club Penguin Developer Blog. August 31, 2006. URL retrieved December 15, 2006.
- ^ "Lots of New Stuff!!". Club Penguin Developer Blog. November 7, 2006. URL retrieved December 15, 2006.
- ^ Gutner, Toddi, Teaching Internet Safety to Kids, BusinessWeek Online, July 27, 2006 (URL last accessed on September 24, 2006).
- ^ Membership, Club Penguin. URL last retrieved on January 1, 2007.
- ^ Beta Test Party, Club Penguin Developer Blog, September 20, 2005. URL retrieved on January 1, 2007.
- ^ Big Week!, Club Penguin Developer Blog, February 7, 2007. URL retrieved on February 13, 2007.
- ^ Other Penguins. Club Penguin Help & Tutorials. URL retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ Become a Moderator. Club Penguin Frequently Asked Questions. URL retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ^ "Identifying Moderators", Club Penguin Help Guide, URL last accessed November 22, 2006.
- ^ "A Lot of Tours!!". Club Penguin Developer Blog. January 26, 2007. URL last retrieved on January 26, 2007.
- ^ "Tour Guide Ban Issue". Club Penguin Developer Blog. January 29, 2007. URL retrieved on February 3, 2007.
- ^ "Is It Safe?", Club Penguin Q&A for Parents, URL last accessed October 3, 2006.
External links
- Official Club Penguin Website
- The Free Club Penguin Petition
- http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Clubpenguingroup/