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| Source: Club Penguin Hints |
The Anniversary Party has always held a special place in my heart. I remember the first one I ever attended - back into 2008. That year pretty much certainly had the biggest one as of yet. I remember the eminence buildup to it with postcards, newspapers, and What's New Blog posts from Billybob, Screenhog, and (at that time) newcomer Happy77 hyping up the event. The light blue viking penguin plush contest also marked the nearing of the end of age two.
The day would mark many big events. The big party online! The launch of the first big wave of Club Penguin products! The live event in Time Square of New York City, New York! It was the golden age of Club Penguin!
The morning of October 24th, 2008 came. I woke up early to collect my anniversary hat and see the decorated rooms. Then, when I got home from school, I logged in to read the Yearbook and watch the live stream of the New York event.
At that time, I remember thinking about how future anniversaries should be a full party - the entire island should be decorated just as it is during the Halloween Party. Looking back all these years later, it seems that that dream will never be realized.
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| Source: Gpumpkin |
From that third anniversary, things just started to go downhill. The fourth anniversary party lost much of the hype, some of the decorated rooms of the previous one, and was cut down to two days from the previous party's three. The fifth lost even more hype, didn't get a pin as the third and fourth did, and was cut down to only one day, until it was extended by popular demand.
Edition six of the party is where things really started to get sour. Club Penguin's new party schedule routine meant that the annual shindig was thrown into the sacrificial fire - for the first time ever, it had to compete with the "monster" that is the Halloween Party. Because of this, the Town decorations, one of the few rooms that had remained unscathed by the minimization in previous years, were cut down. The Halloween Party influenced the Anniversary Party - the Coffee Shop was decorated in order to accommodate both events and thus the Anniversary Party blended in to the other. The party hat also screamed "Halloween."
The seventh anniversary, last year's, was when things finally hit the limit. The party was mentioned briefly in just a few blog posts. The newspaper, which before had done main articles as a buildup to the party weeks before the event, now barely gave it a passing mention. It was speculated that many penguins would not even know the party was going on. Fans did not approve.
But the future doesn't look so bleak now.
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| Source: DJ Pingy8 |
This year's party seems to try and recapture the magic of that third party, the biggest of them all. Despite the fact both the Halloween Party and the Anniversary Party are both on at the same time, the two coexist well. This year the Night of the Living Sled Trilogy became a triple feature movie in the Lighthouse, meaning the Coffee Shop no longer had to accommodate the original. This meant that, besides the sky outside coming in through the door and window, the Coffee Shop didn't have to tie the Anniversary Party to the Halloween Party. While the outside of the Coffee Shop was a bit manipulated by the main October party, the Coffee Shop did get a little face lift.
One thing that did help things was the fact that the Halloween Party started a week before the Anniversary Party, something that didn't happen when the two overlapped in previous years. This meant that when the Anniversary Party finally launched, it was not overshadowed by the other party. In fact, it's update week was devoted entirely to the Anniversary Party, aside from the launch of a new newspaper.
Only two rooms are decorated at this party unfortunately. There's the Town, as I mentioned before. It just feels overshadowed by the Halloween aura. But, the second one is a different story. It is another thing that shows me that things are getting a bit better.
The Coffee Shop got a bit more effort from the Club Penguin artists this year compared to last. Its design is great and has a bunch of amazing details and Easter Eggs. First of all, there's the party hat display, which I'm glad has come back. But did you see the two Festival of Flight references? Did you see the Quest for the Golden Puffle reference? It's the little things in life.
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| Source: Riffy |
I do feel the Coffee Shop should have used the classic Anniversary Party music that shows up in the Igloo Music roster from time to time. It's a little detail, but as that "First Items" glass showcase proves, those can make all the difference.
Next, I have to say I do think the Book Room should have been decorated. Past Anniversary Parties have almost made this a given, so I was shocked when I found it bare. Ever since the 2012 Marvel party transformed it into the Club Penguin Times Office, this room has been neglected during parties. This needs to end.
The party hat is nice this year, though it seems a little generic. It does tie to the events of Club Penguin this year - the big discovery of the rainbow puffle - so I guess that's nice. I do wish it was hidden, as party hats were years ago.
I like the classic background at the Coffee Shop. It's the first time since the Ice Cream Apron at the Third Anniversary Party that there has been a second free item at a birthday party. This background is a great throwback - it reminds us that Club Penguin is not completely ignoring its past. This Town background is also one of the few backdrops that actually feature a room in its regular Club Penguin form - something I think more should do. The creases on the background are also a nice touch.
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| Source: Gpumpkin |
The 2012-2013 Yearbook is fun. The search for the pins has always been a highlight for me, though I feel the hiding spots are a little too big and obvious. This yearbook also brings back last year's feature of character commentary on the last few pages, which is nice. It also includes a few additional features aside from hidden pins, which is a welcome addition.
One thing I found incredibly strange was the April 2013 section of the new yearbook. It mentions the superhero party - but never makes a reference to Marvel. The pictures on the page are all strictly Club Penguin creations. What's up? 2011-2012's yearbook mentioned Marvel and even showed the party logo on the June 2012 pages. The rest of the Takeover parties reveal their true colors. Context, please!
So, to close, this Anniversary Party is a valiant effort to return to the highs of the fourth party hat event. It does a lot of things right - and a lot of things wrong. It does however right some of the wrongs of its recent predecessors. If it weren't for the date Club Penguin was created on, this party could have bloomed into a full blown one - something very special and something worthy of the milestones. It's a curse. Had Club Penguin launched on, say, October 10, I might have been singing praises right now, since there would be no competition between the birthday party's party peers. You would have saved valuable moments of your lives not reading several of these long paragraphs. You also wouldn't have read this sentence. Or this one.
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| Source: Penguin Heroe |
As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43
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