What Does Club Penguin Need To Do?

If you are not apart of the Club Penguin Twitter world, I am here to fill you in on what you are missing. Today, many penguins flocked to the subject of old Club Penguin. Many thought Club Penguin was better a few years ago, others said Club Penguin is fine the way it is. A lot of people like to blame Disney for any problems with Club Penguin but I don't like pointing the finger at the Mouse. No matter who we want to blame, it is obvious that a large group of penguins have a problem with the current state of Club Penguin. This is what leads us to the question, "What Does Club Penguin Need To Do?"

1. Club Penguin Needs To Get Back To The Basics

There is a reason that Club Penguin drew the eye of Disney in the first place. The success they got with minimal marketing was impressive and to be honest, they didn't need to market it. Their users marketed the game themselves! That is how good the game was. Kids were telling other kids about this new game they were playing, and that is exactly what Club Penguin needed! Now, let me explain what I mean by "Getting Back To The Basics". It's very simple. 

The average player back in 2006 was about 9-12 years old. This means that these players are now around 18+ years old! I call these players, Generation 1, and trust me, most of these players are no longer playing. So, Why doesn't Club Penguin go back to some of the original parties that earned them fame to begin with. If these parties were a hit with generation 1 Club Penguin players, chances are they will be a hit with generation 2 as well! I think generation 2 will also get a kick out of seeing pieces of Club Penguin's history. Some notable parties that could be brought back are the Winter Luau, Western Party, Water Party, Summer Party and color release parties like the Lime Green Party. Also, even celebrating the release of a new room like the Lighthouse was a really cool party!  Simple Club Penguin parties but a lot of fun! I understand some of these parties had very rare items that Club Penguin may not want to bring back, but maybe they could have new items that are inspired by the old rare items. For example, instead of having another red lei at the Luau, have a green lei!

I understand that Club Penguin is always trying to bring new content to the game but if this new generation of players has never experienced the classic Club Penguin parties, isn't it still technically new content to these new players? Besides, I know that I am not the only one that misses songs like this. This was a classic!

2. More Player Involvement

On and off the game! Wouldn't it be cool if they held meet and greets for the staff or had events around the world. Imagine meeting Billybob! Like, real life Club Penguin events! This would create interest for people that don't already know about Club Penguin and it would be a really cool place for players to talk and meet each other. A special item at these events would also be really cool. Club Penguin has never really gone into the "Real World" outside of Disney World meet and greets, a coat drive on Good Morning America, and a few other very small events.

Club Penguin has also done a great job recently coming into the social media space. They now have multiple twitter accounts and even a Youtube channel. Even with all of these new ways of communicating, they still lack responding to penguins. I understand that they have a support team and that Club Penguin also responds to some Youtube comments, but it is still really hard to feel and believe that you are important or that you have a role in the game. Believe it or not, Club Penguin and Billybob used to email and even comment on Club Penguin blogs. I myself have even received a copy of Herbert's Revenge completely free of charge from Billybob!

Club Penguin rarely to never follows normal penguins on Twitter and their responses to penguins are slim. I do applaud their Support team though because they do a great job with both emails and phone calls. So a big thumbs up to everyone over there! Club Penguin if you are reading this, please get involved with penguins on Twitter and please get involved with Club Penguin bloggers again. A lot of bloggers put in a lot of hard work and that occasional email / blog comment is always a nice way of keeping us motivated and letting us know that you guys appreciate our work!

This is a little bias because I am a blogger myself, but I truly believe that some benefits should come around every so often from the Club Penguin team to some dedicated bloggers. In fact, some bloggers have the appeal and in game power of some major mascots! (One of my parties below)

Even though Club Penguin never really talks about Club Penguin bloggers or puts articles about us in the newspaper, many penguins flock to us and we have a very big "silent" role in Club Penguin. A free membership now and then would be really nice! They should want to keep these players playing and happy! Losing these players is not the end of the world for Club Penguin, but it definitely shows that Club Penguin is interested in keeping some of their biggest players happy. When Club Penguin provides benefits and sends emails to these bloggers, it gets the fans of these blogs excited and it encourages more blogs to be developed too. It is every kids dream to get that email from Billybob! This provides some crucial marketing tactics for Club Penguin and it promotes the general idea of creating a blog in hopes that one day you will get that email from Billybob. It is CRUCIAL that Club Penguin interacts with bloggers again!

3. Why Have We Not Had A New Mission?

We haven't had a new mission in about 2 years! I understand that we are now the EPF and not the PSA, but a lot of penguins are not crazy about Field Ops. Field Ops are really cool and we love how often we can do them, but Missions were awesome! People loved missions. I guess this all goes back to the beginning. Getting back to the basics! Club Penguin did a great thing keeping the old HQ's for us, but maybe they need to bring back the PSA too. Let us have the option of which program we want to join. I have a funny feeling that a lot of penguins want to be apart of the PSA again. Having that old spy phone might be cool too. 

4. Let's Face It, We Need A New Mascot

Mascots are one of the most exciting things about Club Penguin. Looking back, I remember how excited I used to get when Rockhopper visited and I remember that feeling I used to get it when looking for him. I wanted to find him more then anything! Also, a lot of mascots have parties or games just for themselves! For instance, Sensei has Card Jitsu. I think a new mascot that has a major role (party, room, game) would be a great thing for Club Penguin at this point. A mascot that has ties to a new game would be great. This mascot needs to have some major star power! This new mascot has to be on the same level as Rockhopper or even Gary. They can't be a newbie that no one cares about. Bringing a legend that people have always talked about like: "The Director or Rory", might be a great way to start!

They are bringing Rocky and Cece to a party at this moment. It's a good thing for now but this is not what I am talking about. This character needs to be a Club Penguin character only. Nothing else! Also, One of the greatest things about old tracking was how rare it was to find these guys. It needs to be that way again. Tracking has become WAY too easy! I'm sure you like it easy but it takes away the fun. Admit it.

5. Why Are We Raising The Price?

I have no problem with the recent price change from 5.99 to 7.99 a month and the other changes Club Penguin have made, but why are we making these changes. There has to be other ways Club Penguin makes money then charging its' users more. Doesn't Club Penguin have all kinds of toys and other things in stores? Why charge your players more that are trying to enjoy the game? I don't know who's idea it was but I am truly baffled by the raise. Just seems greedy if anything. If Club Penguin is really having trouble getting users these days, the price raise makes no sense. Especially in a poor to say the least, economy. The price should stay where it is. This is suppose to be cheap home entertainment!

6. Use Disney To Your Advantage

Even with all of the what seem to be negative comments that I am making, I really have to applaud Disney and Club Penguin on their latest projects. Using Disney as an advantage is very important. If you didn't know, Disney owns a lot of things. They own Marvel, Pixar, obviously the Disney channel, the list goes on and on. Therefore, Club Penguin can use things from these companies in their game. You noticed that they did that with the latest Marvel Superhero party. That was a GREAT move!

It took awhile for Club Penguin to do this, but it was a HUGE success. The Marvel Superhero party brought in record amounts of users. They are testing this same thing again with Rocky and Cece but I think they will quickly notice that they won't get the same response with them as they did with Marvel. Bringing in some things from maybe Phineas And Ferb, Toy Story or even Monsters Inc, might be the next brilliant move from Disney. Also, get back in their parks! Have some more Club Penguin related things at Disneyland and Disneyworld. Why is the Rockhopper meet and greet gone from Disney World?! Get back in these parks Club Penguin! I know you can do it.

7. "Generation 2" Needs To Define Itself

This is my last bit of advice. When people look back on "Generation 1" they always talk about all those things that they miss. How we don't have this anymore, how we don't have that anymore, etc. By the time "Generation 3" gets here, they need to be able to say that they miss things from Generation 2! I don't know what it is, but this new generation has still not made its' mark on Club Penguin history. I don't know if any current items will turn out rare in a couple of years, but I don't get that same feeling with items of today like I did with items of the past. If you notice, the design concept has even changed. Look at how different penguins used to look.

Old Club Penguin was basic and so was the design. Penguins weren't as complicated and penguins definitely looked different! Also, the simplicity of things is what made old club penguin so cool! Some like the new graphics, but the old ones were a hit! I don't expect Club Penguin to change back to their old graphics (because they shouldn't) but I just think it is something to point out. I also feel that Club Penguin is pumping out WAY too many new items. They need to have fewer more simple items like back in the day! We need to feel the "Rarenees" of items again! Also, GO BACK TO THE OLD NEWSPAPER! This new newspaper is kind of pathetic. Club Penguin said that the old paper was too time consuming but with all of the staff that they can hire, they should at the very least be providing us with the best possible content. No excuses.

8. What Can We Do?

To be honest, we can do a lot! We are the reason Club Penguin even exists. They listen to us! If you found any of my points interesting, send them an email. Provide them with a link to this article or even tell them some things you would like. They'll listen if enough of us take a stand! If you have anything to add in or would like to tell me something, please Leave A Comment. 

Last, I am going to provide you with a link to Club Penguin Support. If you need to send Club Penguin an email, Click Here. Club Penguin can only improve with our honest criticism. We aren't being mean, we are helping them! If you would like to send them a tweet, Click Here. Please leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.

- Lebron Jr 23