Club Penguin

Club Penguin is a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities, created by New Horizon Interactive. Players use cartoon penguin-avatars and play in a winter-set virtual world. After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005[1] and has since expanded into a large online community —growing to the extent that by late 2007, it was claimed that Club Penguin had over 30 million user accounts.[2] While free memberships are available, revenue is predominantly raised through paid memberships which allow players to access a range of additional features, such as the ability to purchase virtual clothing, furniture, and in-game pets called "puffles" for their penguins through the use of in-game currency.[citation needed] The success of Club Penguin led to New Horizon being purchased by The Walt Disney Company in August 2007 for the sum of 350 million dollars, with an additional 350 million dollars in bonuses should specific targets be met by 2009.The game is specifically designed for ages 6–14, however, anyone of any age is allowed to play Club Penguin.[4] Thus a major focus of the developers has been on child safety,[5] with a number of features introduced to the game to facilitate this — including offering an "Ultimate Safe Chat" mode, whereby users select their comments from a menu; filtering that prevents swearing and the revelation of personal information;[5] and moderators (along with veteran players) who patrol the game.[6] The game has been criticized for teaching consumerism[7] and allowing players to "cheat".As Merrifield later described the situation, they decided to build Club Penguin when they were unsuccessful in finding "something that had some social components but was safe, and not just marketed as safe" for their own children.[9] Merrifield and Priebe approached their employer, David Krysko, with the idea of creating a spinoff company to develop the new product.

Prior to starting work on Club Penguin, Lance Priebe had been developing Flash web-based games in his spare time.[11] As part of Rocketsnail Games, Priebe released Experimental Penguins in 2000, which featured gameplay similar to that which was incorporated into Club Penguin. Although Experimental Penguins went offline in 2001, it was used as the inspiration for Penguin Chat, which was released shortly after Experimental Penguin's removal. Thus, when Priebe, Merrifield and Krysko decided to go ahead with Club Penguin in 2003, they had Penguin Chat on which to base part of the design process. Penguin Chat's third version was released in April 2005, and was used to test the client and servers of Club Penguin.[12] The original plan was to release in 2010, but since the team had decided to fast-track the project, the first version of Club Penguin went live on October 24, 2005.Club Penguin started with 15,000 users, and by March that number had reached 1.4 million—a figure which almost doubled by September, when it hit 2.6 million.[10] By the time Club Penguin was two years old, it had reached 3.9 million users.[13] At the point when they were purchased by Disney, Club Penguin had 12 million accounts, of which 700,000 were paid subscribers, and were generating $40 million in annual revenue.[2]

Although the owners had turned down lucrative advertising offers and venture capital investments in the past,[10] in August 2007 they agreed to sell the company (both Club Penguin and the parent company) for the sum of $350.93 million.[2] In addition, the owners were promised bonuses of up to $350 million if they were able to meet growth targets by 2009.[14] In making the sale, Merrifield has stated that their main focus during negotiations was philosophical,[9] and that the intent was to provide themselves with the needed infrastructure in order to continue to grow.On March 11, 2008 Club Penguin released the Club Penguin Improvement Project.[15] This project allowed players to be part of the testing of new servers put into use in Club Penguin on April 14, 2008.[16] Players had a "clone" of their penguin made, to test these new servers for bugs and glitches.[17] The testing was ended on April 4, 2008.Prior to being purchased by Disney, Club Penguin was almost entirely dependent on membership fees to produce a revenue stream.[5] Nevertheless, the vast majority of users (90% according to The Washington Post) chose not to pay, instead taking advantage of the free play on offer.[19] Those who choose to pay do so because full (paid) membership is required to access all of the services, such as the ability to purchase virtual clothes for the penguins and buy decorations for igloos;[7] and because peer pressure has created a "caste system" separating paid from unpaid members.[20] Advertising, both in-game and on-site, has not been incorporated into the system, although some competitors have chosen to employ it: for example Whyville, which uses corporate sponsorship,[21] and Neopets, which incorporates product placements.[22]

An alternative revenue stream has come through the development of an online merchandise shop, which opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006,[23] selling stuffed Puffles and T-shirts. Key chains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.[24] October 2008 saw the release of a line of plush toys based on characters from Club Penguin, which were made available online (both through the Club Penguin store and Disney's online store), and in retail outlets.[25]

As with one of its major rivals, Webkinz, Club Penguin has traditionally relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth advertising to increase the membership.Club Penguin is divided into various rooms and distinct areas. Illustrator Peter Welleman designed many of the first environments.[citation needed] 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, under "Member Igloos".[27] Members may also purchase larger igloos and decorate their igloos with items bought with virtual coins earned by playing mini-games.[19] At least one party per month is held on Club Penguin. In most cases, a free clothing item is available, both for paid members and free users. The parties also provide member only rooms in which only members can access. Some major Club Penguin parties are its annual Halloween and Holiday parties. Other large parties include the Music Jam, Adventure Party, the Puffle Party, and the Medieval Party.Players can play a number of minigames on Club Penguin. They earn coins based on the score they get, which can be spent on items. Some of the games are Bean Counters and Hydro Hopper. There are also some multiplayer games like Sled Racing and Find Four. Ever since the release of stamps, some of the game levels have been limited to members only.Players can express their feelings with emoticons. There are numerous emoticons, such as a happy face, a sad face, angry face, and winking. The emoticons appear above the avatar's head in a speech bubble. On December 5, 2007, the heart and skull emoticons were removed because players found these offensive, and were replaced with the flower emoticon.[citation needed] On January 9, 2008 the heart emoticon was brought back as a result of popular demand by players, suggesting that it could be used in a positive and caring way. Some emoticons are hidden when a player presses certain letters and symbols on their keyboard.Members may use the virtual coins that they collect from playing mini games to purchase various items from a wide variety of shops.[29] Shop types include clothing, wigs, stage costumes, igloos, furniture, and sports. Members and non-members alike may also purchase new colors for their penguins, pins from different countries, and backgrounds for their player card.

Each player has their own penguin card, which is used to manage the player's inventory.[30] Players may decorate their card by purchasing new backgrounds, clothing and other items.[30] Penguin cards can also be to display "pins" - new examples of which appear within Club Penguin every two weeks. Pins are free, but are hidden throughout the game. Flags are similar to pins; they also appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's penguin card. In 2010, Club Penguin introduced stamps, and their respective stamp book.[31] Stamps are earned from accomplishing goals in mini-games and on the island.[31] The stamp book displays all stamps that have been earned and yet to be earned. Pins are also displayed in the stamp book. Players can see other penguins' stamp books by clicking on their player cards.[31]

Clothes are worn by penguins, which can either be bought or given out during parties. Only members can buy clothes, but most clothing items given out at parties can be worn by all players, regardless of their membership level.[citation needed]

Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles, such as a Fish Bowl. Some igloo styles are themed for parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Furniture may be bought for the igloos of subscribed members and can be used to design and decorate an igloo. More recently they have given Non-Members and Members some free furniture that they may use to decorate their igloo. Non-Members still may not play music, buy furniture or upgrade an igloo but they can open their igloo and decorate it. Members may also buy different locations for their igloo, such as mountain, beach or forest. Members may now also keep their flooring when they change igloos, instead of it disappearing.Puffles are small, fluffy creatures that players may have as pets. They are available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, red, yellow, white, orange, and brown varieties. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles only, and may have no more than two, unless the restriction is unlocked by a game code; members may adopt up to twenty puffles.[32] Non-members may enter a code for an additional puffle after purchasing a toy via the Treasure Book.[33] Members whose membership has expired are permitted to keep their puffles, but they cannot replace them once they have run away.[citation needed] Puffles used to have health, rest, and energy bar charts to indicate their status, before Club Penguin changed it to a more Flash intensive view. Puffles which are not "looked after" will run away from the player, and will need to be replaced.The Club Penguin Times is accessed from within the game and contains news about Club Penguin and features games and comics. It also has an advice column where a player can write to Aunt Arctic and ask questions about Club Penguin.[34] Any user can submit questions, jokes, riddles, poems, comics, fan art, and tips or secrets to The Club Penguin Times, which may be chosen and displayed in the next issue. In 2010, the newspaper was upgraded into a newer, more sophisticated view. Within the game, the Boiler Room under the Night Club contains an archive of newspapers from the last six weeks.Players in Club Penguin can find special penguins waddling around referred to as Mascots or Famous Penguins during special parties and events. These characters include Rockhopper, Aunt Arctic, Gary, Cadence, the Penguin Band, Sensei, Rookie, PH, Herbert P. Bear, and CeCe and Rocky. These penguins are controlled by Club Penguin and when a player is in a room with one of these penguins, they get a special stamp and can click on them to see their player card. In their player card they can friend the mascot or get an autographed background from them. They cannot, however, view their stamp book or any of the other things a penguin could normally do from the player card.Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force was released by Disney for the Nintendo DS on November 25, 2008. As members of the "Elite Penguin Force", players solve mysteries around Club Penguin. The game features mini-games from Club Penguin; coins earned by the mini-games can be transferred to the player's Club Penguin account.[36] A sequel, Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge, was announced on February 13, 2010 with a release of May 2010. A "mysterious penguin" resembling previously established character Dot the Disguise Gal is a major character in the game.In 2010, Disney Interactive Studios announced plans for Club Penguin: Game Day!, a game for the Wii. It was reported that the game was released on September 21, 2010 in the U.S.[38] It was reported that the game will involve players working as a team trying to earn sections of land on an island, with the objective being to conquer the island. The game is based around several interactive games, some of which are 3D versions of games currently played and games which appear only at the Fall Fair (such as Puffle Paddle) on the internet game. Players are be able to customize their penguins, choose their team (blue, red, yellow, or green) and any points earned in the Wii game can be synchronized with the internet game.Coins for Change is an in-game charity fund-raising event which first appeared in 2007. The fund-raising lasts for approximately two weeks each December, during which time players can donate their virtual coins to three charitable issues: Kids who are sick, the environment, and kids in developing countries.[40] Players donate in increments of 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 virtual coins. At the end of the first campaign, the New Horizon Foundation donated a total of $1 million to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Free The Children.[40][41] Over one million dollars were donated by two-and-a-half million people.[40] In 2008 one million dollars was donated by two-and-a-half million people.[42]

In 2009, Club Penguin donated $1,000,000 Canadian dollars to charitable projects around the world. Over 2.9 million players participated globally, using over 4 billion of their virtual coins to vote for their favorite cause.[citation needed] In 2010, Club Penguin donated $300,000 towards building safe places, $360,000 towards protecting the Earth, and $340,000 towards providing medical help. Players on Club Penguin donated over 12 billion virtual coins and filled Club Penguin's Lighthouse.[citation needed] Lane Merrifield said "Our players are always looking for ways to make a difference and help others, and over the past five years they've embraced the opportunity to give through Coins For Change, it was exciting to see kids from 191 countries participate together.In honor of Club Penguin's third anniversary in 2008, Club Penguin released books that are published under the Snowball Press name.[44] Outside of the virtual world, such books are published by Grosset & Dunlap and include guidebooks for the game as well as "choose-your-own-adventure" style books.[44] The series includes The Ultimate Official Guide to Club Penguin Volume 1 by Ladybird Books, Stowaway! Adventures at Sea by Tracey West, Stuck on Puffles by Ladybird Books, and Waddle Lot of Laughs by Rebecca McCarthy.Club Penguin was designed for the ages of 6–14.[4] Thus, one of the major concerns when designing Club Penguin was how to improve both the safety of participants and the suitability of the game to children. As Lane Merrifield stated, "the decision to build Club Penguin grew out of a desire to create a fun, virtual world that I and the site's other two founders would feel safe letting our own children visit."[45] As a result, Club Penguin has maintained a strong focus on child safety,[46] to the point whereby the security features have been described as almost "fastidious" and "reminiscent of an Orwellian dystopia",[47] although it has also been argued that this focus may "reassure more parents than it alienates."[47]

The system employs a number of different approaches in an attempt to improve child safety. The key approaches include preventing the use of inappropriate usernames,[48] providing an "Ultimate Safe Chat" mode, which limits players to selecting phrases from a list,[46] using an automatic filter during "Standard Safe Chat" (which allows users to generate their own messages)[49] and blocks profanity even when users employ "creative" methods to insert it into sentences,[48] filtering seemingly innocuous terms, such as "mom", and blocking both telephone numbers and email addresses.[46] It also includes employing paid moderators; out of 100 staff employed in the company in May 2007, Merrifield estimated that approximately 70 staff were dedicated to policing the game.[26] It also includes promoting users to "EPF (Elite Penguin Force) Agent" status, and encouraging them to report inappropriate behavior.[46]

Each game server offers a particular type of chat—the majority allowing either chat mode, but some servers allow only the "Ultimate Safe Chat" mode. When using "Standard Safe Chat", all comments made by users are filtered. When a comment is blocked, the user who made the comment sees it, but other users are unaware that it was made—suggesting to the "speaker" that they are being ignored, rather than encouraging them to try and find a way around the restriction.[46]

Beyond these primary measures, systems are in place to limit the amount of time spent online, and the site does not feature any advertisements, for, as described by Merrifield, "within two or three clicks, a kid could be on a gambling site or an adult dating site".[26] Nevertheless, after Club Penguin was purchased by Disney, concerns were raised that this state of affairs may change, especially in regard to potential spin-off products[50] — although Disney has continued to insist that it believes advertising to be "inappropriate" for a young audience.[22]

Players who use profanity are often punished by an automatic 24-hour ban, although not all vulgar language results in an immediate ban. Players found by moderators to have broken Club Penguin rules are punished by a ban lasting "from 24 hours to forever depending on the offence.Club Penguin has received positive reviews and criticism: the site has been used as a positive model when training police in Canada,[clarification needed] and it was awarded a "kids' privacy seal of approval" from the Better Business Bureau.[52] Similarly, Brian Ward, a Detective Inspector at the Child Abuse Investigation Command in the United Kingdom, stated that he would far rather children experience a system such as Club Penguin before moving into social networking sites, which provide less protection.[53] In terms of simple popularity, the rapid growth of Club Penguin suggests considerable success, although there are signs that this is leveling out. Nielsen figures released in April, 2008 indicated that in the previous 12 months Club Penguin traffic had shrunk by 7%.[54]

A criticism expressed by commentators is that the game encourages consumerism[7] and allows players to cheat.[8] While Club Penguin does not require members to purchase in-game products with real-life money (instead relying on a set monthly fee), players are encouraged to earn coins within the game with which to buy virtual products. In addition, the "competitive culture" that this can create has led to concerns about cheating, as children look for "shortcuts" to improve their standing, and, it is suggested, this may influence their real-world behavior.[8] In the game's defense, Club Penguin has added guidelines to prevent cheating, and bans players who are caught cheating or who are encouraging cheating.[8] The use of in-game money has been commented on as possibly helping teach children how to save money, select what to spend it on, improve their abilities at math,[7][19] and encourage them to "practice safe money-management skills".[55]

In spite of the attempts to create a safe space for children in Club Penguin, concerns about safety and behavior still arise within the media. While the language in-game is filtered, discussions outside of Club Penguin are beyond the owner's control, and thus it has been stated that third-party Club Penguin forums can become "as bawdy as any other chat".[20] But even within the game, some commentators have noted that "cyberbullying" can still occur,[56] with flame wars potentially occurring within the game;[6] and the "Caste system" between those who have membership and items and those who lack full membership, (and therefore are unable to own the "coolest" items), can lead to players having a hard time attracting friends.[20]

One criticism came from Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic Monthly: in relation to the safety procedures, she noted that Club Penguin is "certainly the safest way for unsupervised children to talk to potentially malevolent strangers—but why would you want them to do that in the first place?"[6] While views of the strength of this criticism may vary, the concern was mirrored by Lynsey Kiely in the Sunday Independent, who quoted Karen Mason, Communications Director for Club Penguin, as saying "we cannot guarantee that every person who visits the site is a child.