The Generation Breakup

Many penguins believe that we recently entered the third era of Club Penguin.  But, many disagree on exactly where the splits happen.


Note: This does not include the pre-Club Penguin sites, such as Penguin Chat 3.

Generation One
Penguins pretty much have come to the consensus that this lasted from the opening of beta testing on the site in August 2005 to mid or late 2008.  However, I think I can pin the ending to an exact time period - the end of October 2008. The event that began there was the arrival of products.  The launch of products was a huge step for the site, which included the Unlock Items Online feature.

Source: Teodoraleon

A month later the transfer continued, with the Dojo Courtyard, Ninja Hideout, and the game Card Jitsu opening.  First of all, the new rooms were complex - they weren't as simple as the designs of other rooms on the island at that time.  And the new Card Jitsu game was more layered than anything on the island at that time.  It wasn't a small little mini - game, nay - it was a complex game with item earning and card collecting.  It had a much different design than any other game.

Source: Yeaboy

These seismic changes changed the course of Club Penguin forever, and while it took a while for everything to become fairly complex compared to its predecessors, by mid 2009, I'd say the transfer was pretty much complete.

Generation one: August 2005 - October 2008 (Three years, one month)
Transfer from one to two: October 2008 - May 2009 (Seven months)

Generation Two
By May 2009, I believe Club Penguin had pretty much crossed over.  With the new Knight's Quest beginning during the Medieval Party, the new standard of parties being not just rooms with decorations and a few free items, but actually being experiences had fully come to fruition.  Games were more complex, rooms were less simplistic and things were being turned up a notch.  Rooms were also being revamped, which was criticized by some.  Things had a lot more to them.

Source: Club Penguin Pins

I think where things started to enlarge even more was in October 2011, with the new Friends List.  It started the trend of updating the old and adding new innovations.  After that, Club Penguin started releasing more videos on a regular basis, opened Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts, and thus became more engaged with the community.  They then made old parties new again with unique features we hadn't seen before.  Parties started to evolve further with new things that have now become staples of parties being introduced - those being transforming, releasing new party features in shifts, earning furniture quests, and limited time emotes, just to name a few.

Source: Flocho

I believe the end finally came in October 2012.  Why?  Well, the final party not to expand, not to innovate was The Fair, in September.  It was pretty much the same from previous years, although Club Penguin did say they were busy with the rest of the year, which explains it.  However, after that, everything else Club Penguin has put out has been generation three worthy.

Generation two: May 2009 - October 2011 (Two years, four months)
Transfer from two to three: October 2011 - October 2012 (11 months)

Generation Three
This current era we are in has changed the way catalogs, penguins, parties, rooms, and other things work.  When will it make way for number four?  What will that include?  Even Club Penguin may not know the answer to that.

Source: Cheats With Dino

Generation 3: October 2012 - ?
Transfer from three to four: NA

As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43