Halloween Party 2014 Critical Review!

Greetings Penguins!

With October well over with and November now in full swing, we can all reflect on October and agree it was a pretty successful month – as it usually is. The collaboration of two classic annual parties is something that isn’t seen in any other month of the year. I’ve already reviewed the 9th Anniversary party and, whilst it certainly wasn’t the biggest or most surprising of the series, it still gave us some originality that we see so much less of nowadays. This post focuses on a party that not only is the biggest of the October duo, but arguably the biggest in the calendar year – every year. Now, let’s begin.

Plot

The Puffle Hotel served as the fundamental location this time. Supposedly haunted by ghostly goings-on, Gary informed us that his Great Uncle Gariwald VIII (the same from Halloween 2012) had gone missing in the Hotel which now has a staggering 13 floors. Upon entering the Hotel and being introduced with a new Hotel bellhop named Skip, narrative thus far was actually a narrative. Something was happening other than Cadence’s friends coming to visit. A very, very welcome change. Though not as in-depth and complex as the plot during Operation: Blackout (arguably the best party ever in terms of plot), it definitely felt refreshing to actually have a story. An interesting story at that (come on, who didn’t want to know what happened to Gary’s ghost of a great uncle?!).

After extensive waiting and puzzle solving, we found out that Skip was actually an evil ghost whom stole the Ghost Puffles (and Gariwald) in order to extract their energy using his dodgy machines in order to haunt the island. Not only this, but he also tricks and ultimately traps the player. After escaping thanks to Gariwald’s blatant hints on how to do so, Skip is then defeated, flies away and the island is saved. Hurray! Wait, shouldn’t we do something about an evil ghost who just got away? No? Oh, alrighty then.

Despite containing a giant twist that very few saw coming, Skip seemed lacking in character somewhat. He was seemingly trying to terrorise the island – but why exactly? Herbert has his reasons for his evil plans, but Skip just seemed to be a random annoyed ghost whom had a lust for scaring everyone. At one point, he states that he’s not letting you mess his plans up as “It’s his ticket to the big leagues”. What does this even mean? Does he want to be famous or something? I would’ve preferred Skip to have more of a motive behind his actions. Instead, he seems to be a little fame-obsessed. And dead. Definitely dead. Regardless, the plot, despite its’ several flaws, it still manages to engage and indeed shock the player which is certainly a welcome addition that makes the 2014 version of the Halloween Party unique when compared to the others. Will Skip return someday though?

Puzzles/Quests

Quests containing puzzles have been the norm for a majority of parties this year and the Halloween Party 2014 is no exception. Whilst some of the puzzles were fun and required some thinking, others were lacking in comparison. For example, in one room user’s had to simply click on pumpkins to crush them. That’s not really a puzzle or challenging. I guess the challenge was to figure out what to do as opposed to finding out how to do it.

The final puzzle was to free Gariwald and the Ghost Puffles and to ultimately stop Skip from haunting the island. However, Gariwald’s hints were a huge giveaway. He basically instructed the player how to do escape the cage and distract Skip. Not to mention anyone who’s been a member of the EPF for several years would probably of had a case of deja vu, as the recycling of puzzles became evident (throwing snowballs at a power box…sounds familiar).

This party also saw the re-introduction of the infamous ‘come back every day’ feature. Many dislike this as it means they have to log in every day to complete a puzzle/earn items. This was once the norm for many of CP’s parties and served as a cheap way to get more penguins logging in. However, more recent parties such as the Frozen Party didn’t include this feature and instead allowed player’s to complete all the puzzles (if you could call em’ that) in 10 minutes or less if the player wanted to.

I personally felt the [Frozen] party seemed to be far too easy and quick to finish, which is a complete juxtaposition of its’ lengthy duration. Yes, it worked in the older days due to parties being simplistic and having a short duration of a few days, but since newer parties last so long, I feel the ‘come back every day’ feature works better. If player’s really dislike this that much, then simply log in on the final day when everything is unlocked. Simple!

Decorations

Contrary to what several believed when they saw an unreleased screenshot of the Plaza from CP’s files, the whole island was indeed decorated with the iconic dark night sky. Though there wasn’t a storm this time, the night sky always brings a completely new atmosphere to the island and this has made many want a night/day feature on the island, as well as some weather conditions that we’ve on rare occasions in the past (The Great Storm of 2010 included dark clouds and even rain!).

The Hotel and its’ interior were both decorated for once. Though, these rooms were the focal point on the party and thus had to be decorated. Most rooms had returned from previous years, including the slime pool in the Underground Pool which never seems to get any attention at all anymore. Some rooms however, mainly the interiors of the Plaza (bar the Hotel) and the Town (not including the Coffee Shop during the Anniversary) remained undecorated, which is slightly disappointing but when compared to all parties this year the decorations are huge.

One aspect that disappointed me was Ski Hill. Yes, it had the pumpkin scarecrow and the night sky, but the cave that apparently belongs to the Sasquatch didn’t glow. Why would it, you ask? Aunt Arctic stated in the CP Times that the cave was rumoured to glow at night – indicating that someone or something lived there. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case during the eternal darkness of a  fortnight and personally I believe CP missed out on the perfect opportunity to reboot this rumour. Ah well, maybe they’re saving it for when night and day comes to the island? Who knows..

Items

I always love Halloween items. They’re usually spooky with a comedic twist that makes them popular throughout the whole year. During CP’s youth, the Ghost and Clown Costumes were both very popular items, and this hasn’t changed much throughout the years. In the case of the 2014 version, all the free items were new. Non-Members were treated to a series of head and hand items, including a Magic Hat, a Ghostly Suitcase, a Little Jack’O’Lantern on a chain leash and even a jar of Newt eyes (amongst others).

As always, Member’s got their added bonus of even more items, such as a Web Hoodie, Spectral Ghost Costume, Ghost Puffle Costume, Skeleton Mask and Shadow Wings. These items obviously were a range of body items and not just limited to head and hand like with the non-members. In total, non-members got 7 items and members got 14 (including those available for everyone) which is a large amount for any party. So in this respect, the party did definitely not disappoint. However, I would’ve liked a bigger variety of items as opposed to the majority being for the head/hands.

Verdict

2014 hasn’t been the best year in terms of parties. We all know that. The Halloween Party 2014 stands out a lot more this year than it has any other year. The lack of a proper narrative structure and a plethora of decorations in the majority of parties this year means that this and indeed any other recent Halloween Party would stand out in 2014. I personally found that this year’s version was a positive approach that I hope CP continues into the remainder of the year. Whilst not perfect, and doesn’t compare to my all time fave (2008 – the thunderstorm, the scavenger hunt, introduction of ninjas…awesome), it’s still a great party that’s firmly earned its’ place as my favourite of the year thus far. Will the Pirate Party or Holiday Party 2014 change this? I sure hope so!

So that ends yet another critical review. We now only have two more parties left of 2014. As we already know, November will be the month of pirates as the Pirate Party returns along with everyone’s favourite and somewhat neglected captain. Many speculate we will be finally able to reach Rockhopper Island for the first time, which would be interesting to say the least. That all kicks off on the 20th, let’s hope its’ amazing!

Random CP Fact #31: Players used to be able to type numbers in the first couple of years in Club Penguin. This was eventually changed as many were sharing personal information such as their phone numbers. 

Until next time, Waddle on!

– Jimbobson

Halloween Party 2014 – Why the Puffle Hotel won’t be the only Decorated Building

Greetings Penguins!

Although I promised that the next post will be regarding pins, I decided to postpone that until a later date due to a certain rumour that’s risen over the past week. This rumour relates to the upcoming Halloween Party and the theory that only one major building will be decorated, in case you somehow didn’t notice in the title.

Basically, many penguins saw a sneak peek of the Plaza during the Halloween Party within CP’s files and immediately noticed a huge problem with it. The sneak peek in question can be seen below:

As you can see, the Puffle Hotel is the only decorated building in sight. Even the Pet Shop and Pizza Parlour – two rooms that see regular renovation during the Halloween parties have been ignored. The most significant missing piece of this screen shot is of course, the night sky that has become a regular feature of the Halloween parties. There are some clouds yes, but this seems to only cover the Puffle Hotel which is said to have 13 floors.

This has meant that a huge amount of penguins have become extremely disappointed. Has one of the biggest and best parties of the year has become restricted to just this one building that everybody ignores at every other time of year? With recent parties, much fewer rooms have been decorated (during the infamous Music Jam 2014 in particular) but this takes things too far. Why did they do this? Why did they destroy such an iconic party? Well, they didn’t. Here’s why.

Tradition

CP has always been big on tradition, whether its’ including a fire extinguisher at the earlier Anniversary parties (penguin’s can’t blow!) or having an excessive amount of boxes at the once loved April Fools party. Okay so I’m aware this year has broken a few traditions – the perfect example again being the Music Jam 2014. But seriously, the Halloween party has been a fairly similar event in terms of decorations for years now. The dark sky has been used since 2006 – there is no way they will remove it now; especially since CP has received much criticism for lack of room designs.

This is pre-release work

The party is still a few weeks away, the team will be adding final touches to it right about now (they’ve probably actually finished it and are working on next month’s stuff!). This sneak peek appears to be quite early in the development process, it seems illogical to presume that this is exactly how the room/party will look once released in two weeks time. We’re also unsure of how long this sneak peek has been in CP’s files.

This is a full, almost 2-week party

This may seem obvious, but the party starts on 23rd October and ends on 5th November. There is no way only one building throughout the island would be decorated for something as highly anticipated as the Halloween Party. You may argue that many thought the same of the Music Jam, but don’t forget it took place on an entire new part of the island (the Cruise Ship), introduced new characters, a new game and still other rooms were decorated (though some very minor and some were recycled from past parties). Still, it’d seem ridiculous for CP not to decorate more for a party that is always big in terms of web traffic.

False Advertising

I know what you’re thinking. What does Jim mean by false advertising? Well, it’s quite simple. CP has already given us an official sneak peek of a segment of the Plaza already – and it certainly contrasts with the one shown above that many believe to be final. This official sneak peek I talk about can be seen below.

Notice something? Well, the sky is certainly dark. Not only this, but the Pet Shop is also decorated with a giant Bat Puffle statue. Yes, it’s the same as last years but that’s forgivable when CP are introducing a bunch of new floors to the Puffle Hotel – including Spooky Puffles and other items etc. Will this be how the Plaza looks during the party’s release? Yes, otherwise it’d be false advertising. The log in screen contains everything else that’s already been confirmed (Spooky Puffles, new costumes and the ghastly-looking Puffle Hotel), so you can bet that the party will be island-wide, and include that famous dark night sky that has become a fan-favourite since its’ debut in 2006.

So, what’s with the barely-decorated sneak peek then?

To put it simply, the original sneak peek shows the new decorations at this month’s party. CP will design rooms separately and then apply them all together to create the final room we see at the party’s launch (this would be much quicker than having an individual work on the entire room). I’m confident that the updated Puffle Hotel will be placed on top of last year’s decorations (for the Plaza at least) – thus integrating seamlessly and being true to the artwork on the Homepage.

You may also notice that the sneak peek contains many missing pieces – particularly text which CP adds later for each respective language. The clouds also wouldn’t fit in a warm-blue sky colour, alongside traditional white clouds. It would just be extremely inconsistent and look rather stupid. Especially considering the log in screen shows lightning flashing above the tower – which wouldn’t be very visible during the day!

Overall, I hope I’ve cleared things up regarding this upcoming party. Of course, we don’t know exactly how the party will be received, will it be a huge success or a downgrade from previous versions? What we do know however, is that it will more than likely be very similar to last years decorations-wise. CP has spent time working on other stuff for this party, so expect a Halloween 2013 party with a new plot, new items, a new Puffle and a Puffle Hotel to explore. Exciting stuff!

Random CP Fact #28: The Spooky Puffle will be the 21st Puffle to be available for Penguin’s to adopt – this includes Puffle Creatures such as the Cat and Dog Puffle. 

Until next time, Waddle on!

– Jimbobson

School & Skate Party Critical Review!

Greetings Penguins!

Okay, we know the score by now. These posts are basically reviews reflecting on a party that has recently ended. The aim of these is to identify points where the specified party which were done well, and ways it could’ve been improved. You all know this by now, so let’s get going!

This month’s review focuses on the School & Skate Party; a brand new unsponsored party that aimed to bring the fun of school into our favourite virtual world. But was the party an A-Grade masterpiece or did everyone want it to graduate as soon as possible? Well, upon its’ announcement many penguins flocked (not literally, they can’t fly..) to Twitter in order to voice their opinion. For the most part, responses were negative. Why would CP introduce school to the island? A widely-hated part of our lives, it certainly isn’t fun for everyone – and CP knows that. To overcome this, they tried to incorporate the fun things that school contains, like skating, apparently.

The Tiring Quest

Like almost all of the 2014 parties, this one also contained a Quest. Upon logging in you were instantly made aware of this, as the forceful messages almost demand that you do these quests before even trying to acknowledge your friends. Like last month’s Frozen Party, penguins had to find objects in a certain room in order to receive items. Unlike the Frozen Party however, the objects weren’t as easy. This is a good thing as the Snowflakes of the Frozen Party were easier to find than the gigantic modern pins. Regardless, finding the objects is still easy when you’re directed to each room that contains them. Why not spread them over the island and let penguins discover them themselves?

One major issue with this month’s quest was that of repetition. It’s just like last month’s party but with a different context. Why CP insists on using the same quests for several parties in succession is beyond me. Mix it around a little, otherwise parties begin to feel far too similar to eachother – and not in a good way. Scavenger hunts in the form of the Easter Egg hunt or the Halloween candy hunt were fun. The eggs/candy weren’t that easy to find, we weren’t bombarded with log in screens that transported you the room but instead got given clues as to which room an egg/candy could be found. There also wasn’t one every party which maintained the excitement.

Skate Park – Half Full or Half Empty?

This party saw the introduction of a brand new room – the Skate Park. A room that’s focused on Members (but not restricted to), it allows the purchase of Skateboards followed by the ability to do tricks in this room alone. Whilst an alright idea, I’d of preferred to see this as a mini-party which we didn’t see in September. Instead, we have a room that is unlikely to be used much if at all. Is it necessary? Not really, I can’t imagine myself using it whatsoever and I know many others feel the same way.

Recently, Polo Field announced that there would never be any new plays at The Stage due to it not being used. So why introduce a new room that has the same fate? The Cove was added way back in 2007 to provide a Summer-themed location all-year round and introduced surfing. The Lighthouse and Beacon were added in 2006 to provide penguins with the ability to spot The Migrator on the horizon, and thus had contextual purpose. A Skate Park however? I just fail to see the reason why.

Other Decorations

The entire island was decoration for this party. LOL JKS, no but seriously, we’ve come to expect to much with modern parties in terms of decorations. They aren’t as minimal as the Music Jam, but still few and far between when you consider the entire island. The Plaza, Mine Shack and University got a makeover with the best decoration in my opinion going to The Puffle Berry Mall which of course temporarily replaced The Stage. The issue with the Mall however is that you couldn’t purchase anything it in, which kind of defies the point. The escalators were also ridiculously slow to operate and once you were on one, you couldn’t get off without switching rooms.

Overall there are some decently decorated rooms, but nothing stood out as groundbreaking. Once again, the majority of the focus has gone into the Member features and quests, exciting times!

Items

After much feedback CP looks to have finally removed the “come back tomorrow for another item” feature that became tiresome. Instead, we can get all the items on the same day which saves time for busy people like myself. This time, the items ranged from Backpacks to Dodgeballs. Whilst the majority they were nicely designed and within context, the absence of Body/Feet items for Non-Members is becoming painfully more obvious. I’m quite positive CP wouldn’t lose Members if they simply gave away body items for everyone every now and again (not including codes).

It was also nice to see Rookie make yet another appearance. Like with every mascot nowadays, their giveaway background is never updated which is slightly depressing.

Plot

Like a good 100% of parties this year, this one suffered from the plot. Or rather, the lack of one. A good CP plot hasn’t really been seen in a while, especially after the master of all plots known as Operation: Blackout graced the island. Lately it seems that Cadence (who is becoming a very tired and overused mascot) has friends from far away that come visit the island and never appear again. This time however, Rookie was so excited for the new school year that he decided to throw a party. How exciting.

One major point that disappointed me was how the EPF were aware that Herbert was going to strike the University. However, he did not appear at all whatsoever during the party. Instead, the Director messaged us saying that the University is now secure. Why even mention Herbert at all? Oh yes, to remind us that he still exists but without actually making him a major character at all. It all seems a little lazy..

Verdict

What originally sounded like the disaster party of 2014 (and boy, are there many contenders for that fine award) actually turned out to be not so bad by 2014’s standards. Whilst it suffered from the usual lack of deco, lack of a real plot and a repetitive quest, it wasn’t as bad as the Music Jam. There we no Disney characters which was refreshing and hopefully this will last for the remainder of the year. It would’ve also been nice to have each mascot teach a respective subject. Gary for science, Aunt Arctic for English, Cadence for music etc.

Overall, it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst either. I only found myself logging in once per penguin throughout the entire event which pretty much says all there is to say. Will it return next year? I hope not, I’d prefer to find something more creative within the month of September.

What’s Next?

Ah the month of October, by far my favourite month of the year in regards to the island. We already know which parties will occur this month as its’ the same every year. Does that mean its’ bad? No, the exact opposite. The Halloween Party dominates in terms of decoration and music, and I’ve yet to witness one that disappoints. Thus far, we are aware that Spooky Puffles (Ghost Puffles) will be making their debut for Members only. We also know that a Halloween-themed upgrade of the Puffle Hotel will be a central point of the party which is fine. I don’t mind when a room is the main focal point of a party, but it can’t be the only focal point of the party – something which was the main downfall of the Music Jam 2014.

Let us all not forget the 9th Anniversary either. October holds 2 parties every year – the only month to do so on an annual basis. Expect the two to be integrated with eachother rather than having them separate as CP once did (before the whole 2-week party duration was introduced). Regardless, I’m excited for this month and hope that it doesn’t disappoint – though let’s face it, it won’t take much to be the best party of 2014 thus far.

Next Time: Pins – Does Size Matter?

Random CP Fact #27: The Halloween Party 2008 marked the first official sighting of Ninjas. When lightning strook inside the Dojo, Ninja shadows could be seen for a split-second. Ninjas were then officially released a month later.

Until next time, Waddle on!

– Jimbobson