New Register Screen Review + Bot Prevention
Club Penguin has recently released a new register screen that you’re greeted with when you create a new penguin. It includes some notable new features and a brand new design. It’s new features have managed to please a lot of players for a few reasons. I have my own thoughts on the new layout myself.
The new register screen was released sometime during the week of October 5th, 2015, and it looks like this:
Some important points about the new design is that it looks much more modern and more relevant to the currently popular styles of 2015. The colors are now circling around the penguin, and the page is much simpler than before. I like these changes because I’ve always been a fan of more modern design and I think it makes the page look much more fresh and current than it did before.
The most significant change made to the page is the very last part, in which Club Penguin has set up sort of their own Captcha system, but of course one that is more kid friendly and Club Penguin-like. This may seem like a minor change, but this update will actually benefit Club Penguin a lot in the long run with a certain issue called ‘bots’.
Bots are basically spam penguins that were created by different groups on Club Penguin trying to advertise whatever they offer, usually like CP Armies. How they work is the operator of the bots would have all of them log onto one server and stand in a single room. Then, using a typing generator, they’d have the bots all simultaneously say phrases like “JOIN OUR ARMY”. When at least 10 penguins all say this same phrase + more at once, it completely clogs up the rooms and it is SO annoying. These days I can’t ever log on to a popular server without having to deal with an annoying band of bots.
Now, the Captcha system can help solve this issue in the long run because it stops automated programs from creating several bot accounts at one time. Robots/automated programs are unable to read a word and select the corresponding picture, especially because the word and pictures change every time. This requires people to actually manually setup bot accounts, which would take much longer.
As of right now, there are still plenty of bots on Club Penguin, because the system can’t prevent previously created accounts from existing, but once Club Penguin is able to identify all of the bots and ban them over a period of time, the bot population will hopefully decease significantly.
My opinion on bots? They’re ridiculous. Why do you have to go and ruin everybody else’s game play just to have people join your virtual army that’s only form of attack is creating a circle of penguins in a room and emoting at the same time? #canunot
My opinion on the new register page? I think it’s great. It shows that Club Penguin is genuinely listening to the community considering bots is one of the #1 complaints out there. Making a Captcha system is the first step towards eliminating bots and its probably the most the team can do about them when it comes to preventing their creation. Let’s also not forget that the design is visually appealing. Overall, I’d rate it a 10/10. Thanks for listening to us Club Penguin!