Editorial: Are We Lost Without A Server Map?

Posted on February 1, 2021 by mchappy2

BLIZZARD, Shamrock Bulletin Headquarters – The developments in the army community over the past month have left armies without a Server Map. Join us as we explore what impact this unpredicted change will have on the community as a whole.

Club Penguin army server maps have endured multiple news organisations; most recently, the staple server map was Club Penguin Army Hub’s. They began as merely tools to keep track of the land that armies claimed as theirs although, following disputes over servers, they gradually became more systematic. With these changes came invasions and defences that were officially judged by registered staff members of army media organisations. This meant that every server belonged to a maximum of just one army at once.

The CPAH server map on July 13th 2020, shortly after its release

The Club Penguin Army Hub’s server map was introduced in July of 2020 and quickly became an integral part of the army community. Wars between armies were focused on gaining land and the officiality of the map added to the sense of pride that an army was awarded with when they successfully captured a new CPPS server.

Now that the CPAH server map is no longer an option, the army community now relies on armies themselves to state which servers they own. For example, the Army of Club Penguin has recently engaged in invading the newly free land of Club Penguin Rewritten. In their first invasion of Ascent, the ACP emulated what an invasion of free land under CPAH rules would have looked like but this is no longer a requirement for armies wanting to claim land. ACP’s two further invasions since then have been utilised as training events in addition to being able to claim the land. One could argue that armies now have the opportunity to hold events that can improve the army, as opposed to trying to fit a set of regulations that a league set out.

ACP’s Invasion of Ascent, in post-flash Club Penguin Rewritten

In addition, the Army of Club Penguin have only invaded the servers that they believe they need for events. So far, they had invaded Ascent, Abominable and Blizzard. These will serve as their temporary capital, the training ground for their Training Regiment, ACPTR, and the home of our very own Shamrock Bulletin. So, it may be safe to assume that ACP is moving away from trying to have maximum territory and are, instead, only invading servers that they deem necessary.

Although this is not a cause for concern at the moment, the lack of regulation could pose more of a threat to armies when war is initiated. If two conflicting armies have “invaded” servers using different policies, how can the two groups engage in any meaningful kind of war with a resolution? Often, wars are started as a result of an army believing that certain people in the army community have gone too far. If two armies cannot agree on the basic terms of war, then the issues that the armies have with each other’s conduct can not be resolved.

A blatant example of when this scenario played out was during World War Rewritten in April and May of 2020. With no army league to officiate proceedings, armies disagreed on what terms were allowed. This ended in the unusual circumstances of both armies claiming that they were the victors of battles. With both sides clearly dissatisfied with the behaviour of their enemy, further disagreement merely perpetuated the anger in the community and no reasonable conclusion was ever made. The army community went into the conflict with a number of issues to try and solve but came out of the war with even larger questions about the true motivations of those in charge.

ACP’s announcement of the ceasefire at the end of World War Rewritten

However, could the true root of this unsatisfactory conclusion be something else entirely? The war got off to a turbulent start, even by the army community standards, with leaked chat messages from ACP’s staff channels being anonymously shared. This heightened tensions even further and one could suggest that going into war under the circumstances they found themselves in was never going to end with an agreement.

This sequence of battles, disputes and argumentative war posts eventually led to CP Army Media introducing their very own server map. While this didn’t alleviate the stresses of World War Rewritten, it certainly prevented similar situations from occurring in the near future.

Having considered the points above, it is still undeniable that some armies don’t want to have to sign themselves up to a league. And if they do not use the same system that other armies use, you could argue that they are locking themselves out of the army community. Another potential point of issue is if multiple leagues are popular: this could lead to many of the disagreements that having no leagues brings.

The Shamrock Bulletin reached out to ACP Commander-in-chief CSY to see what changes he thought that the lack of server map would bring to the community.

Overall, do you think not having a server map will have a positive or negative impact on the community?

To be honest, I personally feel that nearing the end, there was a lot of stagnancy on the server map. With the closure of cpatg and the uncertainty of armies in this post flash period, I suspect our community may once again be divided in CPPS usage, making one solid map hard. Plus, with various limitations a server map brings (such as the need to have a governing body to officiate any map changes, causing a lot of political drama), I do feel perhaps the end of the server map may not be grim, but rather the resurgence of the old way and wars of CPA that may not be contingent on an official form of land acquisition.
– CSY, ACP Commander-in-Chief

So, it seems that if armies decide to sign up to a league, it is important for them to realise that this isn’t the ideal option. Although, it may solve many of the issues that the lack of a server map brings. Then again, is there an “ideal option”? Should the army community begin to move away from focusing so heavily on who “owns” which servers? But that question is a topic for another day.

What do YOU think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

ACP Colonel & Shamrock Bulletin Reporter