for those who want to know about this famous site for children

Development on Club Penguin began in 2003 when Lane Merrifield and Lance Priebe, employees at New Horizon Productions (which became New Horizon Interactive in 2005) in Kelowna, British Columbia,[3] saw a need for "social networking for kids".[4] As Merrifield later described the situation, they decided to build Club Penguin when they were unsuccessful in finding "something that had some social components but was safe, and not just marketed as safe" for their own children.[5] Merrifield and Priebe approached their employer, David Krisko, with the idea of creating a spinoff company to develop the new product.[3]
Prior to starting work on Club Penguin, Lance Priebe had been developing Flash web-based games in his spare time.[6] As part of Rocketsnail Games, Priebe released Experimental Penguins in 2000, which featured gameplay similar to that which was incorporated into Club Penguin. Although Experimental Penguins went offline in 2001, it was used as the inspiration for Penguin Chat, which was first released by Rocketsnail Games in January, 2003. Therefore, when Priebe, Merrifield and Krisko decided to go ahead with Club Penguin in 2003, they had Penguin Chat to inform part of the design process. After two years of testing and development, the first version of Club Penguin went live on October 24, 2005.[1].
Growth was rapid. Club Penguin started with 15,000 users, and by March that number had reached 1.4 million—a figure which almost doubled by September, when it hit 2.6 million.[3] By the time Club Penguin was two years old, membership had reached 3.9 million users.[7] At the point when they were purchased by Disney, Club Penguin had 12 million accounts, of which 70,000 were paid subscribers, and were generating $40 million in revenue.[8]
Although the owners had turned down lucrative advertising offers and venture capital investments in the past,[3] in August 2007 they agreed to sell the company (both Club Penguin and the parent company) for the sum of $350 million.[8] In addition, the owners were promised bonuses of up to $350 million if they were able to meet growth targets by 2009.[9] In making the sale, Merrifield has stated that their main focus during negotiations was philosophical,[5] and that the intent was to provide themselves with the needed infrastructure in order to continue to grow.[4]
On March 11, 2008 Club Penguin released The Club Penguin Improvement Project (CPIP).[10] This project allowed players to be part of the testing of new servers put into use in Club Penguin on April 14, 2008.[11] Players had a "clone" of their penguin made, to test these new servers for bugs and glitches.[12] The testing was ended on April 4, 2008.[13]

Business model
Prior to being purchased by Disney, Club Penguin was almost entirely dependent on membership fees to produce a revenue stream.[14] Nevertheless, the vast majority of members (90% according to The Washington Post) chose not to pay, instead taking advantage of the free memberships on offer.[15] Those who choose to pay do so because full (paid) membership is required to access all of the services, such as the ability to purchase virtual clothes for the penguins and buy decorations for igloos;[16] and because peer pressure has created a "caste system" separating paid from unpaid members.[17] Advertising, both in-game and on-site, have not been incorporated into the system, although some competitors have chosen to employ it: for example Whyville, which uses corporate sponsorship,[18] and Neopets, which incorporates product placements.[19] After Club Penguin was purchased by Disney, concerns were raised that this lack of advertising may change,[20] but Disney insisted that they believe advertising to be "inappropriate" for a young audience.[19]
An alternative revenue stream has come through the development of an online merchandise shop, which opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006,[21] selling stuffed Puffles and T-shirts. Key chains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.[22]
As with its rival, Webkinz, Club Penguin has traditionally relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth advertising to increase the membership.[23]

Child safety
One of the major concerns when designing Club Penguin was how to ensure the safety of participants. As Lane Merrifield stated, "the decision to build Club Penguin grew out of a desire to create a fun, virtual world that I and the site's other two founders would feel safe letting our own children visit."[24] As a result, Club Penguin has maintained a strong focus on child safety,[25] to the point whereby the security features have been described as almost "fastidious" and "reminiscent of an Orwellian dystopia".[26] At the same time, it is argued that this focus is likely to "reassure more parents than it alienates."[26]
The system uses a number of different approaches in order to maintain a high level of security. The key approaches include:
Preventing the use of inappropriate usernames.[27]
Providing an "Ultimate-Safe Chat" mode, which limits players to selecting phrases from a list.[25]
Using an automatic filter during "Open Chat" (which allows users to generate their own messages).[28] In particular, profanity is blocked, even when users employ "creative" methods to insert it into sentences.[27] In addition, even some seemingly innocuous terms are filtered, such as "mom", and both email addresses and telephone numbers are blocked.[25]
Employing paid moderators. Out of 100 staff employed in the company in May 2007, Merrifield estimated that approximately 70 staff were dedicated to policing the game.[23]
Promoting some veteran users to "secret agent" status, and encouraging them to report inappropriate behavior.[25]
Each game server offers a particular type of chat—the majority allowing either chat mode, but some servers allow only the "Ultimate-Safe Chat" mode. When using "Open Chat", all comments made by users are filtered. When a comment is blocked, the user who made the comment sees it, but other users are unaware that it was made—suggesting to the "speaker" that they are being ignored, rather than encouraging them to try and find a way around the restriction.[25]
Beyond these primary measures, systems are in place to limit the amount of time spent online, and the site does not feature any advertisements, for, as described by Merrifield, "within two or three clicks, a kid could be on a gambling site or an adult dating site".[23]
Players who use profanity are often punished by an automatic 24-hour ban, although not all vulgar language results in an immediate ban. After being caught using profane language on a second or third occasion, players may be banned for 72 hours. Players caught cheating Club Penguin are banned for a much longer time period. After 3 to 5 bans, a player is banned indefinitely from the game.[29]

Memberships

Subscribed memberships

A typical Club Penguin member player card.
Players may become subscribed members and doing so grants them additional in-game benefits. They may buy clothing and furniture, own up to fourteen Puffles (the pets of Club Penguin), enjoy early access to new parts of the game, buy furniture for their puffles, and have access to all puffle breeds. A brand new catalogue only for members contains hairstyles. Members also have access to Members-only parties hosted by Club Penguin.[30] Members may also open their igloo to visits by other players.
Club Penguin recently released game cards available for retail purchase, initially at Target stores in the United States, enabling players to buy their own membership.[31]

Non-memberships
Club Penguin provides a non-membership option. Although such play is free, it does not include all of the benefits of being a member. Non-members may still buy different colors for their penguins, buy player-card backgrounds, travel to any place in the Club Penguin world (except during members-only parties), and play games. Non-members may also receive and use items given out at parties that are held monthly for all players. Non-members are restricted to only two red or blue puffles. If a former member once owned puffles, they may be kept, although no new member-only puffles may be bought. Non-members can not purchase clothes, furniture, wigs, hats, or igloo upgrades. Non-Members also may collect 'pins' to put on their backgrounds, but may not buy them in a catalog.[citation needed]

Beta testers
During the beta stages of Club Penguin's development, anyone could sign up to be a beta tester. Beta testers received special benefits upon the official release of Club Penguin, such as a month of paid membership, coins, a pink and yellow party hat, and the option to have any letter of their name in uppercase/lowercase letters. This privilege is not extended to regular players, whose names can only contain one capital letter, and only at the beginning of their name. Beta testers are considered to be extremely rare.[citation needed]

Environment

The map of Club Penguin
Club Penguin is divided into various rooms and distinct areas. Each player is provided with an igloo for a home. Members have the option of opening their igloo so other penguins can access it via the map. Members may also purchase larger igloos and decorate their igloos with items bought with virtual coins earned by playing mini-games.
Many game locations can be accessed by clicking on the Club Penguin map. Some places are reached by clicking their general area on the map and then walking the penguin to the specific location. Other places are only available for access on certain days or at certain times.

Notable places within Club Penguin
Rooms
Games in Rooms
Other Rooms
The Town
Beans (Coffee Shop), Mancala (Book Room) Thin Ice (Dance Lounge), Astro Barrier (Dance Lounge)
Coffee Shop (Book Room), Night Club (Lounge), Gift Shop
The Plaza
Puffle Round-Up (Pet Shop), Pizzatron 3000 (Pizza Parlor)
Pet Shop, The Stage, Pizza Parlor
The Cove
Catchin' Waves
None
Forest
None
Treehouse (during Medieval Party of May 2008)
The Snow Forts
None
Ice Rink
The Dock
Hydro-Hopper
None
The Beach
Treasure Hunt (Captains Quarters) (only avaliable when Rockhopper visits), Jet Pack Adventure (Beacon)
Migrator (Not Always Avaliable)(Ship's Hold, Crow's Nest and Captain's Quarters), Lighthouse (Beacon)
Ski Village
Ice Fishing (Ski Lodge)
Ski Lodge, Sport Shop
Mountain
Sled Racing
None
The Dojo (Hidden)
None
None
Mine (Hidden)
Cart Surfer (Underground)
Cave (Pool)
Iceberg (Hidden)
Aqua Grabber
None
Rockhopper's ship (Not always avaliable)
Treasure Hunt (quarters)
Captain's Quarters, Ship Hold, Main Deck, Crow's Nest
Treehouse (during Medieval Party of May 2008)
None
None

The Stage
The Stage was released in November 2007, in the Plaza, between the Pet Shop and the Pizza Parlor. In the stage, penguins can act out plays. Subscribed members may buy costumes for the play, an option that non-members do not have. The script for the play is located at the bottom right corner of the screen. When clicked, a list of lines is brought up. Each month, a new play is released. The names of all of the plays are listed below.
Month
Play
November 2007
Space Adventure
December 2007
Twelth Fish
January 2008
Squidzoid vs. Shadow Guy and Gamma Gal
February 2008
Team Blue's Rally Debut
March 2008
Space Adventure (Encore)
April 2008
Quest for the Golden Puffle
May 2008
Twelfth Fish (Encore)

Game features

Emoticons
Players can express their feelings with emoticons. There are numerous emoticons, such as a happy face, a sad face, angry, winking, etc. The emoticons appear above the avatar's head in a speech bubble. There are also secret emoticons that may be unlocked by holding down letters on the keyboard (e.g. holding down E and I produces the igloo emoticon). On December 5, 2007, the heart and skull emoticons were removed because players found these offensive, and were replaced with the flower emoticon. On January 9, 2008 the heart emoticon was brought back as a result of popular demand by players.[citation needed]

Items
Players may use the virtual coins that they collect from playing mini games to purchase various items from a wide variety of shops. Shop types include clothing, wigs, stage costumes, igloos, furniture, and sports.
Players are allowed to change the color of their penguin at certain shops. Each color bought is saved into the penguin's card, allowing the player to access and change the color of their penguin as often as they wish. Backgrounds are also available for players to purchase. Backgrounds are placed behind the penguin's picture on their penguin card and can also be switched with other backgrounds freely. Every month, up to two to four backgrounds are released. Backgrounds and colors can be bought by non-members.
New pins appear within Club Penguin every two weeks and display in the top left-hand corner of a player's penguin card. Pins are free, but are hidden throughout the game. A special Christmas Tree Pin was made available during late 2006. On January 4, 2008, Club Penguin hid their 50th pin, a snow shovel. Flags are similar to pins; they also appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card. Flags can only be worn one at a time and can only be bought by Members.
Clothes are worn by penguins, which can either be bought or is given out during parties. Only members can buy clothes, but those given out at parties are wearable by all penguins.
Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles. Some igloo styles are themed for parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Furniture may be bought for the igloos of subscribed members and can be used to design and decorate an igloo. Flooring for an igloo (introduced January 19, 2007) is also only accessible by subscribed members.[citation needed]

Puffles
Puffles are small, fluffy creatures that players may have as pets. They are available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, red, and newly released yellow. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles only, and may have no more than two; members may adopt up to fourteen puffles. Puffles have health, rest, and energy bar charts to indicate their status. Members whose membership has expired may still keep the puffles, unless they run away.
There are seven official breeds of puffles, each with a different personality.
Blue Puffles are mild tempered and content. Their favorite toy is a ball. Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone in Club Penguin. Blue Puffles were the first puffle breed in Club Penguin and are loyal, making them very popular.
Green Puffles are very energetic and playful. They like to clown around on their unicycles or play with their propeller caps.
Purple Puffles are lots of fun to have around. They enjoy blowing bubbles and are terrific dancers, but they can be a bit fussy, especially at meal time.
Red Puffles are adventurous and enthusiastic. They are fearless when attempting daring tricks (except in the survival mode of Catchin' Waves) and spend a lot of their playful energy on a surf board. Rockhopper brought these puffles to Club Penguin on his ship from Rockhopper Island. These, like the Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone on Club Penguin.
Pink Puffles are very active and cheery. They love to exercise by jumping rope or playing on their trampolines.
Black Puffles are known to be mischievous and short-tempered. However, they love to play and make a great pet for anyone who likes a little bit of personality. They sometimes catch on fire and will turn red for a short period of time.
Yellow Puffles were added November 30, 2007. They love art and are very active. When playing, Yellow Puffles either will choose between going to paint or film a movie.[citation needed]

The Penguin Times
Club Penguin has a free virtual weekly newspaper delivered every Thursday. It contains news about Club Penguin and features games, comics, polls, and more. It also has an advice column where a player can write to Aunt Arctic and ask questions about Club Penguin. Any penguin can submit questions, comics, jokes, and riddles to The Penguin Times, which will be chosen and displayed in the next issue. The Boiler Room under the Night Club contains an archive of newspapers from the last six weeks.[32]

Calendar dates
Each newspaper edition includes a list of dates that summarize when the next pin will be hidden, when upcoming parties or Club Penguin events will take place, or any other information on changes to games, rooms, the newspaper, or any other interesting information in general.[citation needed]

Submissions
Players are able to submit jokes, riddles, poems, comics, Fan Art, news articles, tips or secrets, and questions to Aunt Arctic. Each week, a few submissions are picked and displayed. As of the 3rd of April, 2008, Aunt Arctic announced that due to a promotion to Chief Editor, players were now able to submit articles, or tips to the Penguin Times, as well as the usual additions. These submissions now have their own unique place in the newspaper, rather than being in a separate pop-up, as they previously were. This new system also allows penguins to submit questions, which Aunt Arctic replies to every week.[citation needed]


courtesy of: wikipedia