So are clans dead?

[Caymanmew]

But that's not what I am asking here. If you are part of a clan, you should be willing to step up if you're active and the need arises. If you are actively playing a bunch of games on here, then you do have the time to give a small hand to your clan. That could be helping to run ONE clan war for this year. It does not require a year's long commitment. If a leader, like Keefie, needs help, I really don't see why different people within a clan can't step up and lend the leader a hand. It's the least they could do.

That's assuming you would want them to step up and run a war. It's not like just being a decent player means you're going to do the map/player research needed for a proper war. Different skills.

I can't imagine running a war (picking games and teams) for a mid pack clan. It would have to be murder. I doubt I could do it.

I'd assume it is more difficult for top clans honestly, mid pack clans can play fewer games at a high level so they just have to pick those games, maybe hold off on any their opponent is especially good at, assuming they bother to research their opponent much.

Top clans have a lot more good maps which although nice does mean you have a lot more options you need to think through.

[iAmCaffeine]

But that's not what I am asking here. If you are part of a clan, you should be willing to step up if you're active and the need arises. If you are actively playing a bunch of games on here, then you do have the time to give a small hand to your clan. That could be helping to run ONE clan war for this year. It does not require a year's long commitment. If a leader, like Keefie, needs help, I really don't see why different people within a clan can't step up and lend the leader a hand. It's the least they could do.

That's assuming you would want them to step up and run a war. It's not like just being a decent player means you're going to do the map/player research needed for a proper war. Different skills.

I can't imagine running a war (picking games and teams) for a mid pack clan. It would have to be murder. I doubt I could do it.

I'd assume it is more difficult for top clans honestly, mid pack clans can play fewer games at a high level so they just have to pick those games, maybe hold off on any their opponent is especially good at, assuming they bother to research their opponent much.

Top clans have a lot more good maps which although nice does mean you have a lot more options you need to think through.

are you counting ATL as a top or mid pack clan in this evaluation?

[Caymanmew]

But that's not what I am asking here. If you are part of a clan, you should be willing to step up if you're active and the need arises. If you are actively playing a bunch of games on here, then you do have the time to give a small hand to your clan. That could be helping to run ONE clan war for this year. It does not require a year's long commitment. If a leader, like Keefie, needs help, I really don't see why different people within a clan can't step up and lend the leader a hand. It's the least they could do.

That's assuming you would want them to step up and run a war. It's not like just being a decent player means you're going to do the map/player research needed for a proper war. Different skills.

I can't imagine running a war (picking games and teams) for a mid pack clan. It would have to be murder. I doubt I could do it.

I'd assume it is more difficult for top clans honestly, mid pack clans can play fewer games at a high level so they just have to pick those games, maybe hold off on any their opponent is especially good at, assuming they bother to research their opponent much.

Top clans have a lot more good maps which although nice does mean you have a lot more options you need to think through.

are you counting ATL as a top or mid pack clan in this evaluation?

It was more of a general statement than ATL specific. We are ranked 9th of 17 currently so one might assume we would be defined as a mid pack clan by some people.

[rockfist]

I meant its easier to design a game plan for a team like Real Madrid or Manchester United than it would be for Everton or Crystal Palace...but managing the personalities is more work.

[Craig25]

Hey Troops

I played in a Clan YEARS ago and even compared to that, this looks DEAD and BURIED!

But.....................Not for long.............................................

The Clan scene is about to light up.................................................

It is going to go CRAAAAAZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

All I can say at the moment is................................

SOME THINGS ARE SIMPLY BETTER BY THE DOZEN........................................

[i-andrei]

Can't wait for that.

[iAmCaffeine]

Can't wait for that.

don't hold your breath

[Craig25]

It is highly enyoyable to meeting and talking to you for the 1st time iamcaffeine. Although a little spine tinglingly akward. That feeling you get when you meet someone and think, that just freaked me right out............

Can't wait for that.

don't hold your breath

Recently Craig25 had a great idea for creating new clans via one of his tournaments. I haven't checked but I hope that it's still in progress. The clan department should reach out to Craig and do everything they can to make that a success.

Doubt it. Dude has no clue about clans and criticises people for not participating, or not accepting random stripers with no team experience. He's an idiot, always has been.

[/quote]

[iAmCaffeine]

Hey Troops

I played in a Clan YEARS ago and even compared to that, this looks DEAD and BURIED!

But.....................Not for long.............................................

The Clan scene is about to light up.................................................

It is going to go CRAAAAAZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

All I can say at the moment is................................

SOME THINGS ARE SIMPLY BETTER BY THE DOZEN........................................

That feeling you get when you meet someone and think, that just freaked me right out............

[Craig25]

How long do we need to wait for the punchline Icaff?

[The Voice]

I only started 2 clans, both now in the top 10. My larger contribution comes down to recruitment more than anything. Plenty of people in A^ and ICON had barely played team games before, much less aware of clans and how they worked. Now they're well established players in the scene.

This ^

There are still thousands of players on this site. The clan scene needs more players like iAmCaffeine who are willing to cultivate awareness of and interest in the clan scene. Promote a couple people to a clan ambassador role within the CDs. And then give them some tools to make it easier to get the word out. I 100% wouldn't be in a clan if I hadn't been approached.

Also, how about making it easier for people to ask to join (like a simple request button that sends a pm to all clan leaders)? You see the posts on recruitment threads asking how to join. How many of them didn't find a clan because nobody else was aware they were looking beyond the one clan they applied to and a few others who browse one another's threads?

[Nut Shot Scott]

I only started 2 clans, both now in the top 10. My larger contribution comes down to recruitment more than anything. Plenty of people in A^ and ICON had barely played team games before, much less aware of clans and how they worked. Now they're well established players in the scene.

This ^

There are still thousands of players on this site. The clan scene needs more players like iAmCaffeine who are willing to cultivate awareness of and interest in the clan scene. Promote a couple people to a clan ambassador role within the CDs. And then give them some tools to make it easier to get the word out. I 100% wouldn't be in a clan if I hadn't been approached.

Also, how about making it easier for people to ask to join (like a simple request button that sends a pm to all clan leaders)? You see the posts on recruitment threads asking how to join. How many of them didn't find a clan because nobody else was aware they were looking beyond the one clan they applied to and a few others who browse one another's threads?

Agreed on all counts.

[benga]

I only started 2 clans, both now in the top 10. My larger contribution comes down to recruitment more than anything. Plenty of people in A^ and ICON had barely played team games before, much less aware of clans and how they worked. Now they're well established players in the scene.

This ^

There are still thousands of players on this site. The clan scene needs more players like iAmCaffeine who are willing to cultivate awareness of and interest in the clan scene. Promote a couple people to a clan ambassador role within the CDs. And then give them some tools to make it easier to get the word out. I 100% wouldn't be in a clan if I hadn't been approached.

Also, how about making it easier for people to ask to join (like a simple request button that sends a pm to all clan leaders)? You see the posts on recruitment threads asking how to join. How many of them didn't find a clan because nobody else was aware they were looking beyond the one clan they applied to and a few others who browse one another's threads?

99% of those are shit, they can't read a couple of articles but you expect them to be part of clans daily communication

[The Voice]

99% of those are shit, they can't read a couple of articles but you expect them to be part of clans daily communication

In a topic that is brainstorming increased participation, I think it's helpful to avoid elitism. You'd know better than I what works for your clan, but to me, that's not the floor for every clan. I would argue bare minimum for clan participation is: A player must take orders in in-game chat and commit to a high percentage of turns taken

Then, as s/he grows, that player ideally:
1. Meshes personality-wise with teammates
2. Adds suggestions to in-game play
3. Takes leadership role in in-game play
4. Provides insight into what home/away games they can participate in
Then maybe even
5. Contributes to other clan communication
6. Helps the leaders
7. Becomes a leader

As an aside, I maintain a freemium project that's active on 60,000 sites. The codebase just turned 10 years old. Even though it's stable, I keep a "move fast and break things" mindset. Sometimes, I break things and people get pissy, but those who stay are more appreciative to see new stuff. I give priority to community suggested features and reported bugs. I see this mentality as being orders of magnitude better than a "don't move and shit yourself when anyone lobbies the slightest critique" mindset.

Where am I going with this?

It would be nice (speaking of bare minimums) if all ideas didn't immediately die upon being contributed. I don't know if it takes some blessed soul to curate them and a rep from each clan to come together and prioritize them. I honestly don't know what would goose things along. All we can do is offer suggestions. No one wants to see this site die, but it looks like straight trash. Start with that. Players take this exasperation out on the mods. And I'm sure mods are put in the unenviable position where they may feel they have to defend the status quo and take frustrations out on players for asking too much.

TL;DR We're all on the same team. Why can't we focus our shame on this Big Wham asshole?

[Shannon Apple]

And I'm sure mods are put in the unenviable position where they may feel they have to defend the status quo and take frustrations out on players for asking too much.

The thing about this bit is that... the mods owe CC nothing. And I mean nothing. I'm personally not going to defend something if I know something is wrong, but I will try to be part of the solution where possible. We are doing a volunteer job that is often thankless, but we do it to help the community that we are already a part of anyway. I think it is everyone's responsibility to make CC a better place, not just the moderators. Sometimes I see situations happening where a member accuses a mod of doing nothing. What they do might not always be visible, and that can cause a wee bit of butt hurt/defensiveness of their own department, and I suppose who can blame them. They're all just human. =)

As for what Benga said on the people applying for clans, he has a point. I wouldn't have used the word "shit" but I would have said that many of them are spur of the moment. Some of them have just joined and have barely any intention of sticking around long term. We say to them "play some more games and try again in a month or two" knowing full well that they probably aren't that committed to being part of a clan or playing many games full stop.

It's like that guy that signed up last night and immediately wanted to join Team CC. When he got his answer about needing to be around a little longer and playing some games, he logged out and it's probably the last we'll see of him.

If a group of members came up with an awesome working idea for a new sub-department for bringing in new people and forming brand new clans, I am sure that they would be all for it. I'll wager that it's a lot harder than it looks. The first thing you need to do when trying to create a new clan is find people capable of leadership and willing to commit to it.

[Swimmerdude99]

I think one of the biggest suggestions I've seen that would make a big deal, is randomly displaying information on a Clan's war sometimes in a banner or on the sdie or something, like CC news, but different each time you login around a clan event match, maybe scrolling CL scores etc. Something like that could draw some good attention from "newbies" and maybe even then manage to capture their interest more when they realize there is a very competitive unique side to the site that is different than your generic Risk game.

[Keefie]

I think there are many things that could be done.

I have an idea for a Clan Junior section. Max 8 players, best of 11 games in a league &/or cup format. Keep the workload to a minimum for the team captains. This could be organised outside of the usual clan structure but kept under the clan umbrella and overseen by the CD's. If done properly this could be a feeder program for the main clans. Also it's potentially a source of new clans.

More in site advertising of the clan world through the use of banners. Love swimmerdudes idea of Clan News banners.

Organise team game tournaments only open to players who are not in clans. Prizes from the clan department. For the past few years each clan leader has been given 500 credits by the Head CD. I would happily give this up if the credits were used for prizes that might spark more interested in clans.

[Fewnix]

SUPER COOL



I think there was some work about clans being allowed to have two groups including a training group?

Tell us more, please.
---------------------------
one idea maybe worth considering is clan are capped at a certain number, say 25, but can have, say up to 10 of these mates in a farm team, and up to 15 potential clan members in the farm team.

So if you want to join a clan, particularly one of the top ranked clans,, you first have to make it into the farm team, the junior league, whatever. Prove yourself there, which should take a full season, a year or so, for most try-outs. and some may never make it to the majors.

And if clans are capped, it becomes a more competitive, more fun clan world, as we see the juniors strut their stuff and we pick the future stars.

something like that?

Hey, guys...

I'm having issues moderating our clan's forum and user groups. I went to https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3 ... _modtools/ but it looks like I don't have the mod abilities I once had.

1. How do I create a new private forum/user group for my clan? We've got two right now, but we would like to add a third as a subgroup of our main clan forum.

2. How long does it take the CC servers to update a clan usergroup name? We want to change the user group "Capralis" to "The Bar". I made the edit using my Control Panel.

3. How can i get mod privileges back?

Thanks!

Hey celliottii

1) Clans are allowed to have 2 groups, A) Clan Usergroup, and B) Clan Training group. This needs to have 50% "new" members (can't be the same users as Group A) and must have activity every 30 days. Thats the limit on Clan related user groups. If you wanted, you could create a social usergroup following the regular social usergroup requirements and such.

2) This just changes the usergroup name where you find it etc. The forum and other stuff would have to get edited by submitting an e-ticket. Provide them the current name, and the name you want it changed too.

3) Did you have them before? Was there a requested change? Each clan is allowed one moderator to archive / edit stuff if desired. If you were given those priv's and can't, that would be a bug. If you haven't requested that yet, you would do so by PM'ing me. If someone else has those moderator privs within your clan, then they are the ones with the priv to do so. You can contact them and see if your clan wants to make a change and PM me if thats what you want to do, just let me know (and CC the other guy who currently has it)

Hope that helps

IcePack

------------------------------------------------

I think there are many things that could be done.

I have an idea for a Clan Junior section. Max 8 players, best of 11 games in a league &/or cup format. Keep the workload to a minimum for the team captains. This could be organised outside of the usual clan structure but kept under the clan umbrella and overseen by the CD's. If done properly this could be a feeder program for the main clans. Also it's potentially a source of new clans.

More in site advertising of the clan world through the use of banners. Love swimmerdudes idea of Clan News banners.

Organise team game tournaments only open to players who are not in clans. Prizes from the clan department. For the past few years each clan leader has been given 500 credits by the Head CD. I would happily give this up if the credits were used for prizes that might spark more interested in clans.

[Nut Shot Scott]

This is a good idea but it's running before you crawl. It's like planning for all the cool stuff the site could do to keep members when the real issue is driving members here in the first place. The first issue is generating interest in clans - you currently have like one person every two weeks popping in to ask about joining a clan. There simply isn't enough interest for clans to have a farm team and a real team. We are losing clans, not gaining them.

[Shannon Apple]

---------------------------
one idea maybe worth considering is clan are capped at a certain number, say 25

NO!

We are talking in this thread about how clans help CC to retain members, but I don't think you realise the reason behind that. Clans are not just competitive teams that kick people out at will to make room for a more active person. (Some do, but not all) They are more than that. They are a place to make friendships, and those friendships are what keep many of us attached to CC, even if we take extended breaks. We can pop in, see how the clan's getting on, have a chat in the forum, and stay connected. Remove the personal touch of clans and you lose the reason that they keep people coming back.

Our clan says 40+ members, but we probably have less than 25 who are fully active. Having a huge number of fully active players wouldn't make sense either way. We play a small amount of wars, so people wouldn't get enough games if they were all active at the same time. Kicking people out wouldn't give other clans more players, just slim us down to who is currently playing games. Why should it matter how many people are physically in a clan though. If you said "put a cap on the number who can play in a specific war like CC or CL..." that might make more sense and discourage clans from hogging ACTIVE players. Active players wouldn't want to be in a clan where they can't play in the big wars either way. There are only so many games to go around. I don't think we need to worry about that one.

They tried training clans before and they didn't really work out. I imagine that's because people feel slighted when they ultimately never make it into the main clan. I wouldn't mind helping to train people in team play, so that they can join a clan, or create their own. Poaching for top clans wouldn't be the answer really. I don't see how that helps the "not as many clans" issue. Let them drift that way naturally if they eventually want to.

[Fewnix]

Not trying to hijack the discussion, just throwing in some ideas that may keep clans alive.


I like the suggestion of capping the number of players in clan wars, CC,CL.- to keep it simple, minimum roster of 10, maximum roster of 20?

" If you said "put a cap on the number who can play in a specific war like CC or CL..." that might make more sense and discourage clans from hogging ACTIVE players. Active players wouldn't want to be in a clan where they can't play in the big wars either way. There are only so many games to go around. I don't think we need to worry about that one.

------------------

---------------------------
one idea maybe worth considering is clan are capped at a certain number, say 25

NO!

We are talking in this thread about how clans help CC to retain members, but I don't think you realise the reason behind that. Clans are not just competitive teams that kick people out at will to make room for a more active person. (Some do, but not all) They are more than that. They are a place to make friendships, and those friendships are what keep many of us attached to CC, even if we take extended breaks. We can pop in, see how the clan's getting on, have a chat in the forum, and stay connected. Remove the personal touch of clans and you lose the reason that they keep people coming back.

Our clan says 40+ members, but we probably have less than 25 who are fully active. Having a huge number of fully active players wouldn't make sense either way. We play a small amount of wars, so people wouldn't get enough games if they were all active at the same time. Kicking people out wouldn't give other clans more players, just slim us down to who is currently playing games. Why should it matter how many people are physically in a clan though. If you said "put a cap on the number who can play in a specific war like CC or CL..." that might make more sense and discourage clans from hogging ACTIVE players. Active players wouldn't want to be in a clan where they can't play in the big wars either way. There are only so many games to go around. I don't think we need to worry about that one.

They tried training clans before and they didn't really work out. I imagine that's because people feel slighted when they ultimately never make it into the main clan. I wouldn't mind helping to train people in team play, so that they can join a clan, or create their own. Poaching for top clans wouldn't be the answer really. I don't see how that helps the "not as many clans" issue. Let them drift that way naturally if they eventually want to.

[niMic]

I can't speak for everyone, but I know that if I had to be cut from S&M to make room for better or more active players because of a cap, I'd quit CC forever rather than go join a new clan. I'm still here for the people, basically.

[Fewnix]

I doubt SBM would let someone of your prowess leave, not without a fight. And kicking you out- would be a bad joke that would never happen..

However we have moved on from talking about clans having a cap on membership to talking about a cap on the roster for clan wars etc. Just how many games can SBM or any other top ranked clan, with a fairly large membership, offer its regular mates in clan wars and such, given the availability of heavy hitters like you, and wouldn't a cap on the roster number make sense, reflect reality better?

Consider

https://www.conquerclub.com/public.php? ... WarId=3935

Hard to count that high but I think SBM has about 40 players on the roster, the complete clan membership? and about 20 of them got no games, zero, none, nada.

I;ve seen my clan RGV do basically the same- 30 mates on the roster for a clan war, 10 got zero, none, nada games. It's the easiest way to do it, just put all your members on the roster, then figure out who is actually up for war. Ready, Fire Aim

As RGV regroups we are looking at planning for a typical war with 10 Home games and 10 away games a round -60 slots to fill. A roster of 15 to 20 mates should work for us, means, with a relatively flat distribution, and some heavy hitters most mates on the roster should get at least 2 or 3 games a round. enough to keep them interested in the war and to win medals if the clan wins the war. a roster of more than 20 would mean, with a relatively flat distribution and some heavy hitters, most would be lucky to get 1 or 2 games a round. and no medals if the clan wins
the war,

Which is why we look to the best Home games -combos of maps, settings and mates we can put together and that will likely shape most of our roster, We hope to have 15 to 20 mates should be ready, willing and able to win most of the 20 Home games, and win enough of the Away Games to win the war. 10 or 15 of our mates (we have about 30 members on paper) sitting the war out, no probs, helps sharpen the focus on working with the 15 to 20 ready willing and able.

One thing we are coping with for various reasons, is as some people realized they are not likely to get any clan war games they just went inactive and hardly anyone noticed. Probably about half a dozen who ,on paper were members of RGV, hadn't been active for months ,not taking part in CC games, never mind clan war games.

Rough guess about 500 people on paper members of the 18 or so active clans, how many of them have been active in more than one or two clan war games in the past 6 months?

I can't speak for everyone, but I know that if I had to be cut from S&M to make room for better or more active players because of a cap, I'd quit CC forever rather than go join a new clan. I'm still here for the people, basically.

[Keefie]

A typical war is a minimum of 41 games, any less and it won't qualify for medals.

[Fewnix]

A typical war is a minimum of 41 games, any less and it won't qualify for medals.

True. typically one round is 10 Home games, 10 Away Games, round 2 is 10 home games, 10 Away games and one tiebreaker

So As RGV regroups we are looking at planning for a typical war with 10 Home games and 10 away games a round -60 slots to fill.
hope to have 15 to 20 mates should be ready, willing and able to win most of the 20 Home games, and win enough of the Away Games to win the war. Tiebreaker only comes into play as a tiebreaker.