[Official] Clan Guides and Rules

[Keefie]

Welcome to the Clan Departments Guides section. In here you will find loads of useful information, covering topics such as, How to join/leave a clan, medals, running tournaments and much more. Of course , if you have a question that's not covered in here, then pop over to the Ask the CDs topic and we'll be glad to help.

Post 2: How to Join a Clan

Post 3: How to Form a Clan

Post 4: How to Leave a Clan

Post 5: Clan Challenge Privileges

Post 6: Clan Medals

Post 7: Clan Tournaments

Post 8: 1 Clan Rule

Post 9: Fog of War

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[Keefie]

How to Join a Clan

Clans (Usergroups), for those unfamiliar, are member organized and run groups of people. They may share similar styles of play, geographic location, other varying interests, or perhaps may just be a group of friends (or enemies) looking to get together in some organized fashion. Clans are what you make them, that is the beauty.

Here is a step-by-step guide for finding the Clan of your dreams:

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• Take a moment to browse through the titles in the Create/Join a Clan sub-forum. The TAGS [Forming] or [Recruiting] in the title of the Clan will lead you to Clans that are looking for new members.
  
  
  • [Forming] = A new Clan trying to take shape and looking for the needed 9 founding members.
  • [Recruiting] = Existing Clans that are actively seeking new recruits.

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• Choose the Clan you are interested in and enter the thread. Carefully read the first post to find all the details about that Clan. Pay special attention to things such as:
  
  
  • The purpose of the Clan
  • [Competitive] or [Social]
  • Discussions and/or Challenges
  • What are the Clan Rules
  • Expectations
  • Current rosters

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• If the Clan looks like one you would enjoy being a part of, you can sign up to become a new Clan member:
  
  
  • [Forming] threads = All this takes is a reply in the thread. Most of the time a simple "I would like to be in your Clan." will be fine, but be sure to see if you need to include any other information such as interest or minimum requirements.
    
    
  • [Recruiting] threads = All this takes is a reply in the thread. Most of the time a simple "I would like to be in your Clan." will be fine, but be sure to see if you need to include any other information such as interest or minimum requirements.
    
    Now that you have made your post in the [Forming] or [Recruiting] thread, all that is left for you to do is patiently wait for the response from the (forming) Clan Leader if you fit in the Clan or not. Sometimes this only takes a couple of days. Just check back on the thread every so often to see if there are any updates you need to know about.

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• You can also search on the Usergroups page on your User Control Panel for finding the Clan of your dreams:
  
  
  • If the Clan is a freely open group, you can automatically join the Clan by clicking on the "o" behind the Clan name.
    
    
  • If the clan is an open group, you can can apply to join the Clan by clicking on the "o" behind the Clan name.
    
    
  • If the clan is a closed group, you can only join upon invitation of the Clan Leader.

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[Keefie]

How to form a Clan

If you have the skills, attitude and personality you can form your own Clan and become a Clan Leader of your own Clan on Conquer Club.

But before you create a new forming Clan read the step-by-step guidelines that provide the perfect source how to form, host, and run your own clan i.e.for victories in the Clan Challenges or be the host of a discussion .

Until you are familiar with the process, my advice would be to read it all before you form your own Clan. That way, no one will be surprised and having a lot of questions as you go through the process.

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There are several tactics to starting a clan.
The most basic way is to post in Create/Join a Competitive Clan telling everyone that you are creating a clan and are looking for players.

It is recommended that you have some players/friends already ready to join your clan before you post in the public forum.
By doing this, it shows that you already have a good start and a solid core of players.

Clearly detailing what your clan is about and what your clan offers is also important, especially if it is unique that no other current clan offers.
Sell other players on why they should join your clan.

All Clan Events and almost all Clan Battles use a one competitive clan rule.
(you will have very little chance in finding any action when you have members that are already in a different Competitive Clan)

What do you need for becoming Official :

1. 9 members and 1 leader
2. A name for the clan/group
3. A description
4. Submit the above information Eticket with the group member's names on it.
5. It may take a few days to become offical after that.

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• Usergroups of 9 or less "Active Scoreboard users (a game every 30 days to appear on the Scoreboard), will be given a deadline to re-energize inactive members or gain new active members, otherwise the Usergroup Forum and possibly the Usergroup itself, may face deletion.
  
• All usergroups must always keep their own private forum active at least every month as part of their maintenance to keep their clan, otherwise the Usergroup itself, may face deletion.

[Keefie]

How to Leave a Clan
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Go to Usergroups

Select the usergroup, scroll down to the drop-down menu, select "Resign Selected" and press the submit button.

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If your clan is set as your default group, this won't work. In that case, ask one of your clan leaders to remove you.
Other option is to submit an Eticket with the request of being removed from a usergroup.

If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, as you go through it, feel free to contact any one of the Clan Directors. That’s what they are here for…to help you have fun on the Clan section.

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[Keefie]

Clan Challenge Privileges

Clans can use game creation privileges for Clan Wars and Clan Tournaments. This allows Clan Wars to run much smoother and will hopefully allow for larger and more innovative types of challenges. Using gaming privileges will also give visibility to player performance via current site scripts.
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General

The general consensus is that only competitive groups should be allowed to have the privileges. Social groups are discussion groups primarily and will not be given game creation privileges. The gaming privileges will be executed under the Current Tournament System and will have the tag type “Clan” which is searchable on the Tournament Finder.

Qualifying Clans

1. Clans must have a minimum of 10 active players.
2. For gaming privileges, clans must also follow the 1 competitive clan rule for the duration of the privileges, meaning a player can only be in one clan.
3. Clans must also be able to reasonably complete a clan war with their current roster. If a clan is primarily made up of freemium accounts, it will be expected that they have 2-3 spots open for clan war games.
4. Clans must be a member of CAT.

Who will be given gaming privileges

Only 1-2 members per participating clan will be given the gaming privileges. Those people can be anyone within that clan who meet the following:

Required:
1. Approved by the Clan Leader (I will ask that leaders post an approval of the person starting the war thread, along with the opposing leader posting their nominee for rights)
2. Have no abandoned tournaments/clan wars within the past year
3. Have a Premium Account
4. Be in good standing with the site (eg. no other account issues)

Preferable:
1. Have had previous experience with Tournament Privileges

What the privileges are used for:

Clan Wars and Clan Tournaments

1. Privileges are for clan wars and tournaments that include other clans
2. There must be a well-documented clan war thread within the PUBLIC clan forum so that games can be validated (The Clan Directors reserves the right to audit your war and thread) to show that privileges are properly being used.
3. Privileges can only be obtained for clan wars individually.
4. The clan war must be of a minimum 41 games for 2 clans and must provide a winner during the regular flow of the war.
5. Clan tournaments must be a minimum of 4 clans and must be at least 20 home games per clan involved.

Responsibilities of the Privilege Holders and War Thread Updaters

1. The first post of a war thread/tournament should be updated at least once a week.
2. The Clan Directors reserve the right to edit/change/update the first post of any war or tournament.
3. To enable clan medal issuing, ensure that a link to the war is posted in the opening post.
4. To enable timely clan database updates, all games should also be posted in the Active War Game Lists Thread found Here, by the clan updating the war thread.
5. Any games created and played, but not counting towards the war/tournament with the privileges must be documented as well such as errors and replayed games. This is to help the CD’s with medal issuing.
6. When a war/tournament is completed the title of the first post must be marked "Final".

What it is NOT

This is not for Intra-clan tournaments or training of new recruits.

Penalties:

Abuse of privileges and/or Misuse: 6 Month to 12 Month clan gaming privileges ban for player, length of duration at the clan directors' discretion, plus those players who knowingly participate in a clan war that they know is not valid. Using another person's account to run a war will also result in a ban of clan privileges. If the problem is so pervasive, a full clan ban on gaming privileges could be put into place for the violating clan.

Abandoned Clan Wars: Clans that abandon a challenge will lose clan gaming privileges for 3 months at the clan directors' discretion.

Abandoning or Removal from Clan Tournaments: Clans or War Contacts who abandon or are removed from Clan Tournaments may lose clan gaming privileges for a predetermined length of time, length of duration at the clan tournament director's discretion, or for future tournaments.

Once the terms of the war are documented, and both contacts are noted in the thread, please post in here to obtain game creation privileges, with both names and the link to the war thread.

The CDs retain full and absolute discretion to deny privileges should they determine that any event/war would not be in the best interest of clans as a whole.

This policy and procedures manual will be updated accordingly.

[Keefie]

Clan Medals

A Clan Achievement Medal is available to qualifying winners of Clan Wars, and other Clan Tournaments/Leagues.

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General

The clan medal will be handed out to players and will encourage players to join clans and participate in wars and other events.

Qualifying Challenges

In order to receive a Clan Achievement Medal, the war and players will need to meet ALL of the following criteria:

Wars:
The clan war must be of a minimum 41 games and must provide a winner during the regular flow of the war. A random triples neutral game is recommended.
War restrictions must adhere to the basic restrictions inherently built by clans meaning No Freestyle, No Manual, No Speed, No Beta Maps.
The game composition must comprise of at least 80% Team Games. Recommended setup is 25% Doubles, 25% Triples, 25% Quadruples and 25% Choice of Games
Clan Wars must be fairly negotiated, if you feel you are being pressured into an agreement or are unsure, please seek the advice of a Clan Director
A minimum of 10 players must be used.
All Clans must follow the 1 Clan Rule
Clan War thread must be adequately documented to ensure medals are properly given out, primarily game numbers and winner, games not used etc.

Tournaments:
The clan war must be a minimum 20 homes game per clan involved
Restrictions must adhere to the basic restrictions inherently built by clans meaning No Freestyle, No Manual, No Speed, No Beta Maps and meet or exceed the Maximum game limit formula.
A minimum of 10 players must be used.
All Clans must follow the 1 Clan Rule for the entire tournament/event
Clan War thread must be adequately documented to ensure medals are properly given out, primarily game numbers and winner, games not used etc.

Players:
Be on the winning clan
Have played in a minimum of 3 games.

Forfeits and Penalties

Many wars have come down to only a single game a number of times and really should not be decided by forfeits or penalties. (22% decided by 2 games or less, 33% by 4 games or less, 60% by 8 games or less) The general interpretation is that the games should be remade; however, penalties can be issued by Clan Directors for extreme cases like abandonment etc.

Thread Behaviour

In order to curb some poor behaviour in the clan forum threads, players will be denied or have medals removed if their behaviour is deemed to be disruptive or inappropriate, even if it does not meet the site wide policy for a forum infraction. In the past, we’ve locked war threads due to the behaviour of a single individual, thus inherently punishing both clans. In order to be consistent, this will only be applied by the Clan Dept Head (most often these issues are raised by the CD team).

Examples (including but not limited to)
-Dead beating games to gain advantage
-Cheating claims and accusations in the war threads (excessive sitting, fog courtesy etc.) There is a site process for C&A, so please follow it.


Historical Awarding of Clan Achievement Medals (End of 2010)

Over the last 4 years, there have been clan wars of all sizes (3 games to 120 games) and formats. In defining which ones in the past would receive them, we looked at the average war size in each year and overall. The intention was to grant medals at that level, however, there were challenges only a few games less in some years, and a large war in 2010 raised the average. The most fair level was to look at median and there was a distinct cut-off point in all the years.

All wars with a total Final Score of 36 or more points/games were awarded medals. No other criteria will be applied to historical wars, with the exception of farming and proper documentation.
Players will have to still meet the above player requirements.

This means approximately 1500 player medals were handed out. There were approximately 5000 games reviewed in the process.

Players of the War/ Top Players Medals

TBD

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Medal for Clan Tournament/Event Organizers

Anybody who organizes and successfully completes a clan tournament or event will be awarded a General Contribution Medal, as long as the tournament/event follows the same guidelines/rules that apply to players to be eligible for a Clan Achievement Medal.

If an organizer is no longer able or willing to continue his/her tournament/event, the person who takes over and successfully completes it will be awarded the medal.

Assistants or co-hosts approved by the Clan Tournament Director will generally also be eligible for the medal.

The CD-Team reserves the right to make exceptions (withhold or approve medals) at their discretion.

[Keefie]

Clan Tournaments

This topic is for people who would like to host or organize a clan tournament, in other words: Tournament Organizers or TOs. All the info for that you will find below, under "Hosting a Clan Tournament". First a little info for those participating in a clan tournament:[

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Participating in a Clan Tournament

In case anybody has a problem with a clan tournament the way to deal with that is as follows (in steps):

1.- Contact the TO or TOs. Merely posting in the tournament thread may not always help much.

If the TO or TOs don't respond or are not solving the problem:
or
If you're not happy with his actions and/or decisions:

2.- Contact the Head Clan Director: Caymanmew

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Hosting a Clan Tournament

The current Clan Tournament Director overseeing clan tournaments is: Caymanmew.

So you want to host a clan tournament? Great! This thread is intended to provide some general guidelines that you may want to consider when formulating your tournament. Various issues such as privileges and medals are also discussed below.

What is a clan tournament?

There are two types of clan engagements that qualify for privileges and medals: wars and tournaments. Wars are fairly negotiated between two clans and must consist of at least 41 games. Tournaments combine more than two clans and must require each clan to play at least 20 "home" games. Tournaments also allow for "forced" match-ups (like brackets) and the ability to have more flexible rules (like all 1v1 games).

What do I do first?

The Clan Directors would recommend that you first look at other successful clan tournaments. These include the Conquerors' Cup, Conquerors' Cup 2, Clan Directors' Random Suicide Tournament, and Newcomers' Cup. Of course, there are many others and most can be found, if they are finished, in the Completed Challenges section of the Clan Forum. Most of these tournaments are still “stickied” and will appear at the top of the first page of the Completed Challenges section. These completed tournaments will give you helpful information regarding what rules, policies, game setups, and other issues you should consider when setting up your tournament.

What do I do once I have an outline for my clan tournament?

The Clan Directors strongly recommend that you contact the Clan Tournament Director (Lindax) first to discuss your proposed tournament. For the most part there are not going to be any really strict guidelines to follow for your clan tournament. The reason for this is that we want to encourage unique, new, and fun ideas. A strict tournament policy might stifle creative ideas, a result that no one wants.

Providing your idea along with a rough outline of the proposed policies and rules for your tournament will give the Clan Tournament Director an opportunity to guide you through possible issues that your tournament might pose. It is also advised that you provide this information prior to posting in public. There are quite a few tournaments that were nearly derailed because certain things were promised prior to receiving approval from the Clan Tournament Director. This causes friction and will make it difficult for you to manage your tournament as it proceeds.

What are some things I should consider when preparing the outline for my clan tournament?

There are several considerations. The following is a brief list:

-Number of clans
-Format (round robin, bracketed tournament, league, etc.)
-Number of games per player (tournament wide, per matchup, etc.)
-Settings not permitted (freestyle, speed, etc.)
-Map restrictions
-Scoring system
-Basic rules and policies
-Whether clans can agree to change the rules and policies within their particular matchup
-Specific guidelines on what happens if rules or policies are violated (forfeits are discouraged)

How will I know if my clan tournament will qualify for privileges?

This is why working with the Clan Tournament Director will really pay off in the setting up of your clan tournament. Privileges can be issued in a few different ways. Common examples are as follows:

-Tournament Organizer (you) receives privileges, sets up all the games, and invites all the players
-A specific contact from each participating clan receives privileges for the entire event and is required to set up and invite in their respective games
-A specific contact from each participating clan receives privileges for each round of the event and is require to set up and invite in their respective games
-A hybrid where the Tournament Organizer sets up and invites for some games and privileges are held by a contact for each participating clan to set up and invite for other games

The Clan Tournament Director will let you know, based on your outline, what the best method for providing privileges will be. Again, there is no wrong way; there just may be an easier way! It should be noted, that the CDs retain full and absolute discretion to deny privileges should they determine that any event would not be in the best interest of clans as a whole.

How will I know if my clan tournament will qualify for medals?

This is another example of why working with the Clan Tournament Director will really help with your clan tournament. The Clan Tournament Director can give you guidance on how to make sure that the set up of your clan tournament is eligible for clan medals, suggest changes to make certain formats medal eligible, and help provide the minimum requirements that a player in your tournament will have to meet to receive a medal. At that time, you and the Clan Tournament Director can discuss whether a Most Valuable Player medal is available for your tournament.

For leagues the general formula is (number of player slots / number of players used * 0.50 participation factor) = minimum number of games needed to medal

Where do I do sign ups for my clan tournament?

The Clan Forum has a section for challenge requests. However, this section is intended to be for clan war ladder challenges. The best place to start your sign up thread is in the General Clan Forum. It is recommended that you post as much detail about your clan tournament as possible and describe what types of clans are eligible to sign up (e.g. certain number of premium members, longevity of clan, etc.) Make sure you get a contact person for each clan that will be responsible for their clan throughout the tournament.

How should I rank the clans that enter my tournament?

There are a number of recognized ranking systems. The Clan Directors have a Leap Ladder based solely on clan war performance. FarangDemon’s Algorithm of 400 is based on mathematical principles. The Power Rankings are based on perception from year to year. All of these and others are perfectly acceptable. You should decide prior to posting what ranking system, if any, will be used in your tournament.

What does “tied” mean?

A popular topic in early clan tournaments! Basically, a player plays with Clan A in a clan tournament and Clan A is eliminated. The player, not wanting to be done with the tournament, joins Clan B, which is still in the tournament, and plays in future games for Clan B in the same clan tournament. This was seen as a potential opportunity for abuse. Accordingly, most clan tournaments, and the default rule if no rule is made by the Tournament Organizer, is that players are “tied” to the clan they first participate with in any particular tournament. As such, in the above example, since the player first appeared in the clan tournament with Clan A, he cannot later play for Clan B in the same tournament.

Can my tournament have byes?

Yes, although byes are not encouraged. The issue is primarily one of fairness. A clan with a bye will typically play in fewer games in order to win a clan tournament. Is this fair to the other clans in the tournament? Will the winning clan, if they had an early bye, qualify for medals? These things need to be considered when adding byes to your tournament. However, in certain instances, byes are unavoidable. Again, consulting with a Clan Director will help you make this decision and avoid potential pitfalls.

How should I resolve disputes in my clan tournament?

The Clan Directors recommend that you first try to have the clans involved resolve their dispute. If this does not work you may make a ruling as a Tournament Organizer if the dispute is minor in nature or falls within a tournament rule. For all other issues, your ruling should be presented to the Clan Tournament Director prior to issuance. The Clan Tournament Director, through discussions with you, will make sure the ruling is fair and assist you with enforcement, if necessary. Of course, at any point during a dispute you may feel free to involve the Clan Tournament Director, in private if necessary, to assist in the determination of a dispute. This is especially important if the dispute potentially affects privileges or medals.

Are there any other considerations?

Running a clan tournament is a huge commitment. If you are not prepared for the amount of work that is required to run a successful clan tournament you should not start one! Abandoning a clan tournament will most likely result in you never getting privileges for any future clan events. If you have questions regarding the effort that goes into a clan tournament feel free to discuss with a Clan Director or one of the many Tournament Organizers that have run successful and fun clan tournaments in the past.


Thread Behaviour

In order to curb some poor behaviour in the war threads, players will be denied or have medals removed if their behaviour is deemed to be disruptive or inappropriate, even if it does not meet the site wide policy for a forum infraction. In the past, we’ve locked war threads due to the behaviour of a single individual, thus inherently punishing both clans. In order to be consistent, this will only be applied by the Clan Dept Head (most often these issues are raised by the CD team).

Final thoughts?

The Clan Directors feel that clan tournaments have added fun opportunities for clans to compete against each other. Clan tournaments have created unique match-ups that would not have otherwise occurred and are good for the clan community. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Clan Tournament Director to assist you. Finally, remember that the Clan Tournament Director issue privileges and preliminary opinions on medal eligibility based on the rules set at the beginning of your tournament. If you change rules, enforce harsh penalties that were not in the original rules, or alter policies without first clearing it with the Clan Tournament Director (like at the start of any clan tournament) you run the risk of losing your privileges or losing the ability to receive medals for your tournament. This is something everyone wants to avoid.

Have Fun!

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Medal for Clan Tournament/Event Organizers

Anybody who organizes and successfully completes a clan tournament or event will be awarded a General Contribution Medal, as long as the tournament/event follows the same guidelines/rules that apply to players to be eligible for a Clan Achievement Medal.

If an organizer is no longer able or willing to continue his/her tournament/event, the person who takes over and successfully completes it will be awarded the medal.

Assistants or co-hosts approved by the Clan Tournament Director will generally also be eligible for the medal.

The CD-Team reserves the right to make exceptions (withhold or approve medals) at their discretion.

[Lindax]

1 Clan Rule:

• A player may only be a member of 1 active clan.

Clan Events:

• A player can only play for 1 clan in the same clan war, clan tournament or other clan event.

Changing clans:

1. First have the clan you're leaving take you off their member list.
2. Then have the clan you're joining add you to their member list.
3. You must finish your ongoing clan games for the clan you're leaving.
4. You cannot join any clan games for your new clan until all your games for your old clan are finished.

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[groovysmurf]

Fog of War Rule

The CD Team has discussed this issue and from this point forward, simply stating "12 hour Fog of War Rule" (or equivalent) will be assumed to mean the intuitive definition of the statement which can be summed up as:

The player with first turn must wait 12 hours before playing a first turn that would alter the opposing team's view of the map.

If people want to use the "old" or some other variation of a "Fog of War Rule" in their Clan Wars, Tournaments or Events, that is fine. But the rule would need to be properly explained in the agreed War terms/rules.

If it is not properly explained, the default rule above will be used.