Line #45 Trivia/ClubPenguin


1	* AscendedFanon:
2	** The Rainbow and Golden Puffles had both been rumored by players since the later 2000s, with loads of theories about them and fanarts depicting how they could look like. They finally arrived at the March 2013 Puffle Party and November 2013's Operation: Puffle, respectively.
3	** The ending of Operation Blackout in November 2012 revealed that [[spoiler:Aunt Arctic is the Director]], which was already a popular fan theory years before this reveal happened.
4	** In June 2016, some users noticed that the official ''Club Penguin'' Twitter account was following the account for ''Cinnabon'', a baked goods food chain. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170923232708/https://twitter.com/thelifeofapig/status/743143922378096641 A player jokingly suggested a bacon cinnamon roll]] (making an allusion to his own profile, since his screen name was "Bacon" and he had the avatar of a penguin with a pig snout). Two months later, ''Club Penguin'' officially released the [[https://clubpenguin.fandom.com/wiki/Breakfast_Bun_Pin Breakfast Bun pin]], which looks precisely like a bacon cinnamon roll.
5	** This exchange in a comic:
6	--->'''Lime green penguin''': [[BadassBoast I've mastered ALL the elements!]] '''[[BadassBoast Fire, Snow, AND Water!]]'''
7	--->'''Orange penguin''': Not ALL the elements.
8	--->'''Lime green penguin''': You know Shadow?!
9	--->'''Orange penguin''': [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchComment I know]] [[http://clubpenguin.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Adventuer65/CARD_JITSU_CHEESE!!!! Cheese!]]]]
10	** Players had tried "tipping the iceberg" with drills for probably as long as the iceberg had been a thing, but it was only when the game was about to close down in 2017 that the ability to tip the iceberg was finally added.
11	* AscendedMeme: During the game's earlier years (2005-2007), there were several memes showing edited player cards with the penguins wearing costumes of famous characters, such as WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants or Franchise/SpiderMan. Specifically, the latter example ended up coming true in 2012, when the Marvel Takeover happened and a Spider-Man costume was included among the items for the party. [[https://twitter.com/redkeytar/status/1162220007125741568 According to Polo Field]], the game's developers possibly even included that 2006 Spider Man meme when pitching the party to Marvel.
12	* CashCowFranchise: ''Club Penguin'' once sold gangbusters unlike any other virtual world. Enough to merit its own merchandise, books, and spin-off games. [[SubvertedTrope Ultimately, however,]] it was run down to the ground and discontinued when it stopped being profitable.
13	* CreatorBacklash: Former staff member, Chris Hendricks (known by his username Screenhog), who worked in lots of things during the game's initial years, regrets making the penguin's design on the player card the way it is. While he does appreciate how iconic and loved that drawing became, he's pointed out in some videos that he sketched and finished the drawing in under 15 minutes, on his first attempt, back when ''Club Penguin'' did not have a definitive art style yet; by his own words, it looks "dumpy-looking, with a clueless expression its his face, and its beak is a weird shape", and besides [[NonStandardCharacterDesign stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to]] [[ArtEvolution the rest of the artwork seen in the game's later years]]. While there were plans to redesign the penguin paper doll as shown [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/clubpenguin/images/8/88/Player_Card_Concept.png/revision/latest?cb=20130223120233 here]], [[TheArtifact it ultimately had to stay for the remainder of the game's duration]] because it would be ''insanely'' hard and time-consuming to redraw every item on the player card if it was changed.
14	* DevelopmentGag:
15	** The Costume Catalog was moved to the Puffleberry Mall after it permanently replaced the Stage in 2015. The store's sign that contains it even has the comedy/tragedy masks that used to be seen above the theater.
16	** In the PSA mission "Operation Spy and Seek", a penguin calls the Hydro Hopper "you old biscuit", a reference to the game's original name, "Ballistic Biscuit".
17	** Among the country flag pins is the obscure Central American country of UsefulNotes/{{Belize}}. This was added as a reference to programmer Chris Priebe, who was working on ''Club Penguin'' remotely from Belize at the time.
18	** The Green Puffle using a propeller cap to fly around was inspired by one of the early concept designs for puffles, where they had a propeller naturally sticking out from the top of their head and would use it to fly around.
19	* FandomNod:
20	** PSA mission #10 references the then-famously rumored "golden puffle", with it instead being a literal golden puffle statue. Golden puffles wouldn't be officially introduced until almost three years after this mission was released.
21	** In the 2014 Halloween party, one of the Puffle Hotel's rooms featured a painting showcasing the iceberg being tipped. The same painting was added permanently to the Lodge Attic after its renovation in 2015.
22	* FollowTheLeader: ''Club Penguin'' had lots of [=MMOs=] which simply copied its format, such as ''Pandanda'' and ''Panfu''.
23	* FranchiseKiller: The negative reception of ''Club Penguin Island'' caused that game to be shut down by the end of 2018, putting the lid on the series. Attempts to continue the original game unofficially by fans were mostly squashed by Disney sending out DMCA takedowns in 2020 after predatory allegations were made towards the owner of ''Club Penguin Online'', leaving ''Club Penguin Rewritten'' the sole option of Club Penguin living past Flash until it was forcibly shut down on April 13th, 2022. That was one month before ''Club Penguin Legacy'' opened and became the sole option as well. Time will tell for how long CPL is going to be up for.
24	* MilestoneCelebration: While an anniversary party was held each year, the 10th Anniversary Party from 2015 was probably the most effort put into a party in years, with most rooms having the decorations of parties from every previous year, and even going so far as to have a dedicated yearbook in the book room.
25	* NoBudget: The budget for the very first versions of ''Club Penguin'' was minuscule, the game effectively being an update to an experimental chatroom program that Lance Priebe had made in his spare time. Chris Hendricks recalls that they used Swift 3D as their modeling tool mainly because they couldn't afford the $1,000 license for 3D Studio Max.
26	* RefittedForSequel: In 2009, the team was originally planning a new place called the "News Room" to become the main room of Club Penguin instead of the Town. It would have had a water fountain, the tour guide booth would be moved to it from the Ski Village, there would be a billboard announcing players' events, it would lead to several of the island's other rooms (most consistently the Town and Plaza, although some concept art has it leading to other rooms as well), and players would be able to access public igloos from this room without needing to use the map. During its couple years of development, it went even as far to appear on the book ''The Awesome Official Guide to Club Penguin'', before being ultimately scrapped for being deemed unnecessary. However, the Island Central of ''Club Penguin Island'' incorporates some elements of this room, notably the "Igloo Trams" system that also allows players to visit others' igloos while on the room. Also, many [=CPPSes=] also include this room or a similar equivalent to it as a custom room.
27	* RereleasedForFree:
28	** On March 29, 2017, which was the last full day of the game prior to ''Club Penguin'''s closure, all players got access to free membership and were able to use all member-only features.
29	** After ''Club Penguin Island'' got shut down in December 2018, it remained playable on single-player mode, with all members-only features unrestricted.
30	* ScrewedByTheLawyers:
31	** In October 2007, the laughing emoticon had to be redesigned because Platform/{{Yahoo}} thought the original one looked too much like theirs, and asked it to be changed.
32	** This was the reason why ''Club Penguin Rewritten'' was forcibly shut down in April 2022. In the lead-up to said shutdown, the developers implemented [[InternetAds advertisements]] in the Rockhopper's Daily Treasure that players were ''forced to watch'' and could not skip with an adblocker. They also patched a workaround for that to ensure this happens. Monetizing the game like this gave a law enforcement group called "Operation Creative" means to take control of the website and shut down the server, resulting in the arrests of at least three of its developers by the City of London Police.
33	* ThrowItIn: Aunt Arctic being the PSA/EPF Director wasn't the original intention; "clues" such as her gaining sunglasses when you mouse over her portrait in the newspaper and her initials corresponding with the mysterious 27th cipher letter weren't actually intentional, but once the idea of the spy agency having an anonymous director was pitched, Aunt Arctic was the only candidate who made sense at the time, and all the "clues" turned out to be pretty useful coincidences that worked in her favor.
34	* UrbanLegendOfZelda:
35	** Before Card-Jitsu was introduced, there used to be a rumor that if a penguin stands still for thirty minutes at the Dojo, they would instantly become a ninja, but this was always false as players are automatically disconnected from the game when they stand idle for more than ten minutes. This is [[LampshadeHanging even lampshaded]] in one of Sensei's dialogue lines while explaining how to become a ninja, when at first he says one needs to stand still for thirty minutes at the Dojo, but immediately then dismisses it as a joke and gives the actual explanation. A DS game also has a penguin attempting to do this.
36	** There was a rumor which mentions that if many people use the Hard Hat and jackhammer one side of the Iceberg, it will tip over. It didn't. [[spoiler:Until the shutdown was announced, at least; now this is exactly the method to tip it over, revealing a setup fit for a dance party and a message from the devs.]]
37	*** In the mobile version, the Iceberg would tilt very slightly depending on how many penguins were on either side, though it would never completely tip over.
38	** There were many rumors stating how to get to Rockhopper Island. One of the more popular ones was to stay on the Migrator past its leaving date. WordOfGod states that Rockhopper Island was to be implemented in the game at one point, but was never put in.
39	** There was a theory that, if one stood still in the Dojo for thirty minutes, they would automatically become a ninja; this was even referenced in one of the DS games. It was always false, however, as standing still on the game for more than ten minutes would automatically disconnect the player.
40	* WordOfGod: The reason why there weren't any bed furniture items in ''Club Penguin'' was to prevent players from simulating inappropriate actions (although some players improvised their own beds by mixing and matching existing furniture). When kids asked about it, the mods gave the excuse that they didn't have bed furniture because "penguins sleep standing up".
41	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Aunt Arctic being the Director was actually an afterthought. Despite players interpreting several clues to have been foreshadowing towards the Director's true identity (such as Aunt Arctic's glasses becoming darker when the player hovers the cursor above it on the newspaper), it was stated that the Director was originally conceived with no clear identity in mind, and Aunt Arctic was chosen simply by process of elimination, as she was the only mascot that would fit the role at the time.
42	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/ClubPenguin Has its own page]].
43	* WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings:
44	** There was once a postcard called the "[[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9rNia0WsAAVkBZ?format=jpg&name=large Get Better Soon]]" postcard, which was meant to be sent to players who were sick. However, people started using it as a form of ''death threat'', which caused it to be removed from the catalog in 2008.
45	** The ability to type numbers into the game chat was removed to discourage kids from sharing phone numbers and other personal information with it.
46	** One of the early emoticons was a skull, which was meant to be used for ignoring other players. It was removed in November 2007, when players started using it to pretend to be dead or, like the aforementioned postcard, use it as a form of death threat. The emoticon only remained as the symbol for the ignore list. The heart emoticon was removed at the same time, although it was brought back a couple months later due to having more potential for positive uses.
47	* WorkingTitle: The original 2000 program by Lance Priebe that would evolve into ''Club Penguin'' was named ''Experimental Penguins'', followed by the more recognizable ''Penguin Chat''.
48	* WriterRevolt: In a video by artist and musician Chris Hendricks titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVSxgjQpVCg 5 Things I Didn't Want in Club Penguin (but got in the game anyway)]]", he explained that the game's implementation of realistic hair was this. Chris was against this idea, feeling that it looks weird on the penguins and that it humanizes them too much, despite hair being a popular fan request. The 'Clown Hair' wig was first implemented as a protest against this idea before the Big Wigs catalog was introduced with three major conditions: The hairstyles would explicitly be named "wigs", they would look like wigs rather than natural hair, and a vote would be held in the newspaper as to whether the wigs should stay in the game. Eventually, the pro-hair side won out, and more realistic-looking wigs were added down the road.

Context Trivia / ClubPenguin