Club Penguin was developed by New Horizon Interactive. This game was made available to the general public in October of 2005 and has continued to grow ever since. Just recently, during the year 2007, Club Penguin was bought by Disney. And since it has been bought by Disney Club Penguin has grown in size. In fact Disney actually advertises Club Penguin on its official website, Disney; they even include a link to the Club Penguin website through the Disney website. But not only does Disney advertise Club Penguin on its website, the Disney logo can be found on every page of the Club Penguin website. And having the Disney name behind this virtual world kind of gives parents a sense of relief. The reason for this is that when you think of Disney you think of kids, since Disney is all about the kids.
And as a parent you are always worried about your children’s safety but knowing that Disney is standing behind this website you can rest assured that everything is being done to ensure that your kids are safe online. Many websites claim that your kids will be safe online, but somehow hearing the Disney name helps to assure you that everything is being done that can be done to properly protect your children while they are online enjoying Club Penguin. And the best thing is that there are numerous safety measures in effect that are designed to protect your child’s identity while they are online playing at Club Penguin, but still as a parent you need to know what your child is doing and who they are talking to.
Club Penguin is an online world that offers cartoon Penguins for avatars rather than human forms. The Penguins then waddle around and talk to one another, play minigames and participate in a wide range of activities that are available in the snow covered virtual world. And just like other virtual world games you have to sign up for an account in order to play. The game was designed for children between the ages of six and fourteen but anybody can play it.
Like most virtual worlds, chatting is a huge aspect of the game because you are going to need to communicate with other players. But unlike other virtual worlds the chat options in this game are different then regular virtual worlds because this game is designed for kids from six to fourteen. The two methods of chat are Ultimate-Safe Chat mode, which allows players to select what they want to say from a predefined list of phrases. The second method of chat is the Standard-Safe Chat mode which allows players to enter in custom messages, but these messages are always censored for any vulgar language.
Something else that you need to be aware of is that Club Penguin is completely moderated. What this means is that there are numerous people who watch what is going on at all times to ensure that no profanity is used nor any kind of harassment or abuse towards any player. And if you abuse the rules of the game then you are most likely going to end up with a ban. In fact most of the time if you use any type of profanity you are going to get automatically banned for at least twenty four hours. And if the behavior continues you can end up with a longer ban. Keep in mind that if you get between three to five bans, depending on what the bans were for, you can get a permanent ban.