[EDITORIAL] A Look Into The Exploitation of ‘AUSIA’ Timings

KLONDIKE, CP Army Media Headquarters, Max’s Desk – It would appear that at least two armies in the community have been exploiting the benefit of holding AUSIA events to gain more Top Twenty points and therefore a higher position. Is this really a bad thing, or am I just being dramatic?

Please note: The following post is an editorial and contains the writer’s personal opinion. It does not represent the views of CPAM as a whole.

For the past week, members of the community have been outside the CP Army Media Headquarters with pitchforks and burning torches, demanding a clarification of ‘AUSIA’ timings for the Top Twenty listings. Why? Because, under the current ruling (or lack of), a 3:00pm EST battle could be labelled as ‘AUSIA’ and benefit from the Top Twenty ‘AUSIA curve’.

The ‘AUSIA curve’ works to boost the average size included in the Top Twenty for AUSIA events. This is done because AUSIA divisions and the representation of this region in the army community is significantly lower than the more common European and USA, and so CP Army Media want to encourage AUSIA events while making sure they are not having a negative impact on Top Twenty positions.

The mathematical formula used by CP Army Media applies a larger curve for armies getting smaller AUSIA sizes. This means that while AUSIA sizes of 5 are multiplied by nearly 50%, the multiplier is eventually removed by the time an army is hitting 95. 

Following the public demand for clarity, CP Army Media Chief-Executive-Officer Ayan made the informed decision that events benefitting from the AUSIA curve should be between the hours of 3:00am EST and 9:30am EST. 

But why is hosting AUSIA events at European and USA friendly times an issue? With the large majority of the army community originating from these areas, it would not give an accurate depiction of an army’s ‘AUSIA’ division and minimise the representation of people from the Eastern Hemisphere. Moreover, it can also be interpreted as exploiting the Top Twenty formula to gain more points and therefore a higher placing.

Having said that, it must be noted that CP Army Media is largely a news publication, and not an authoritative body that governs every minuscule thing the armies in the community do. And with everything that happens in this community on a day-to-day basis, there isn’t physically enough hours in the day to do so. Therefore, many would be right in holding the opinion that the following armies can hold whatever events they like at whatever time they deem fit. However, I believe this discussion is necessary to help educate those on a more fair and ‘moral’ approach.

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This brings us to the Ice Warriors, who have enjoyed a week full of ‘AUSIA’ division events. On May 21st an AUSIA division event was held at 11:00am EST, or 1:00am if you live in Australia. Or 3:00am for New Zealand, midnight for Japan and 11pm for China. See where I’m going with this? The fantastic event saw a peak size of 45, which would have been calculated as 56 after it had been put through the AUSIA curve formula. An additional 11 troops.

The next day, May 22nd, another AUSIA division event, this time at 10:00am EST, saw another impressive turnout of 45 warriors. Again, this would have been calculated as 56 people as per the formula. May 24th told a similar story, but this time involving the Dark Warriors. The pair held a practice battle at 10:00am EST, in which the Dark Warriors hit 45 and the Ice Warriors maxed at 30. This, of course, would have been sizes of 56 and 40 respectively due to the AUSIA curve.

However, it must be noted not all armies are hosting their AUSIA division events at arguably exploitative times. It would appear the Doritos achieved a whopping 45 penguins at 8:00am EST on May 28th, and the Army of Club Penguin peaked at 26 troops at 8:00am EST on May 24th. There is no doubt it is possible to hit the top sizes at a more fair time for those living in the ‘AUSIA’ regions.

Due to neither the Ice Warriors or Dark Warriors officially being under the CP Army Media umbrella, they would not necessarily be aware of the news rules coming into affect. However, the morality around their scheduling remains. They instead have chosen to be governed by a CP Army League, who have stated AUSIA timings are between 1am EST and 11am EST and so will continue to reap benefits from the ‘exclusive’ Top Ten that excludes a large percentage of the community.

It is interesting to note that when scheduling, the Ice Warriors do not include the times for any regions the AUSIA event is supposed to cater for, instead just offering the USA and UK timings:

Army League Executive-Producer Lucifer Star stated the following, agreeing that a 10:00am or 11:00am EST ‘AUSIA’ event is not a fair time for those living in these areas of the world:

I think it should be a little earlier tbh, the AUSIA region is pretty much dominated by regions like Australia, China, India and probably some Filipinos play the game as well. So if you convert the times, its like 11pm Philippines, 1am Australia and like 8:30pm India hours. Pretty late to be considered AUSIA if you ask me.

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There is no doubt that the lack of clarity on AUSIA timings has caused some significant problems for the community over the past few weeks. The morality surrounding the Ice Warriors and Dark Warriors AUSIA event schedule is also questionable, but in their defence, there is nothing to stop them from hosting their events at whatever time they wish to do so. Yet is it fair and morally right they are excluding a large majority of those from ‘AUSIA’ regions from attending their events just so that they can obtain a higher size? I’ll leave you to make up your own mind about that one.

Should the Ice Warriors and Dark Warriors have been more transparent? And how many people are attending their ‘AUSIA’ events that actually live in the regions it is supposed to represent? This is an ongoing topic of debate, but I think it can be agreed the new ‘AUSIA’ timings offered by CP Army Media will provide the clarity the situation so desperately needed.

What do YOU think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Max

CP Army Media Vice President