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This topic has moved here: Subject: Cannon's guide to making your own clan
  • Subject: Cannon's guide to making your own clan
Subject: Cannon's guide to making your own clan

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Start: Kick off your clan by gathering all your local Halo friends. You'll need people you know personally and can trust to help run things.

Name: Probably the most important part of forming a clan. A name will reflect what you're clan is about, what type of characters you play as, and it'll help people recognize who you are. Be creative with the name, and ask people their opinion if you get stuck. I remember going through at least two hundred names before I settled on one.

Type of Clan: Decide whether to be dedicated to total domination over all other clans, or to make a bunch of friends while fragging each other. Also figure out how the clan will be run (democracy, dictatorship, military,etc.) Also specify what you plan to play as (Elite or Spartan).

Rules/Organization: Without a good set of rules, your clan will be total chaos. Someone will eventually get the bright idea of a takeover if you don't have rules to protect your clan. And you don't want clan members giving the clan a bad image by constant flaming and things like that. Keep them in line.

Keep your clan well-organized. Make sure you plan ahead instead of just rushing in and recruiting members when you don't even have a site to help you keep track of them (I made this mistake). Make sure that all members are well informed on upcoming events, or major updates within the clan. I'm still waiting for most of my clan to send me information for the site. Don't make this mistake.

Requirements: Have requirements for the clan. Having a bunch of inexperienced rookies for your team won't be too good for your first few clan matches. Set some standards that all clan members should meet before they can join. All requirements should include something about maturity, and maybe something about age. Xbox Live is a must-have, of course.

Amount of members: Make sure the clan isn't too large. I remember when I had a hell of a time running just twelve people... Your clan shouldn't be too small that you can't cover at least two games at once either.

Tryouts and Ranks: This step would be best for when Halo 2 arrives, and the clans take to Live. Have MP matches to decide ranks, and to allow new members. Make them play someone of medium and above skill level, but give them a good chance at winning. Award members for outstanding work in the battlefield, and punish those who break rules. Base ranks on trust, loyalty, skill, and how long they've been a member.

Site: The site is probably the second most important thing your clan could have. The site should have pages for news, current members, allies/enemies, info on the clan/ways of joining the clan, and a page for forums. Your site should have some kind of clan picture or something to do with the clan theme in the background or border. Clan colors should also be a big part of the site. Try to get something better looking than a freewebs site, they tend to screw you over with only seven pages and seven paragraphs. Encourage members to donate money for a better site, and make sure to provide a little yourself. If you're too cheap to pay for an better looking site (like me), just make a freewebs account and try and limit what you have on there. For the forums, I've found that proboards is the easiest to keep track of and understand. There are several other sites to go to for your free site and forum needs, however. This is just my personal opinion.

Practices: The clan should have practices, even if it isn't Halo or Halo 2. This will help build relationships with the members, and show you who's good with what, and what needs improvement. You'll learn what everyone's capable of and where exactly to put them in certain situations. This should also help you find out which members work well together, and which are more lone wolf people.

Jobs/Tasks: Assign clan members jobs for matches, and for outside things. You don't want to have an entire clan full of snipers, then go running around in a tiny level with lots of up close combat. Make sure your people are diverse in their abilities, and make sure you have someone for every situation you could think of. Outside of clan matches, you might want to pick a few people to moderate your forums, update your site, or post clan advertisements. You should also have someone to run the clan while your gone (vacation, illness, etc.)

Punishments: It's not exactly the greatest subject to discuss, but you'll probably all have to eventually punish someone for breaking the rules, or giving the clan a bad name. Depending on how severe the infraction is, you'll have to punish accordingly. For those minor, but noticeable problems, temporarily ban the member from all clan games. I wouldn't extend this for more than a week or so. You could also strip them of ranks and medals (if your clan has them), or ban them permanently from the clan. Make it clear to the offender that the rules are to be followed.

Allies/ Enemies: You'll want allies and enemies when the clan wars begin. Don't go picking fights, and don't go making friends with every clan you meet, either. Let the enemy come to you, and be friends with those who ask for assistance.

Hopefully I've covered everything... and if I haven't, I'm sure Psyched has.

[Edited on 9/22/2004 7:07:54 PM]

  • 09.22.2004 2:01 PM PDT
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This looks very nice, pretty much what happened with my own clan. I've currently got 46 people in (48 max) and I am actually running it ok. Forums are a must have, and I'd recommend invisionfree instead of proboards. They just look so much better. ^_^ Here

Just make sure of how many you can handle, and filter out the jackasses. It's really helpful to have at least one other, maybe 2 or 3 (depending on the size of the clan) to help you out with modding/site stuff. And last but not least, it's nice to get your own domain (just makes your clan look more professional), and these can be obtained for only $8 a year.

  • 09.22.2004 2:09 PM PDT
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Great guide! I had this lurking on some forums I made:

1: Foundation

A clan is a group of people who fight together as a team in team based games, and belong to the exclusive clan community who talk, form friendships, and are united.

One of the most asked questions when it comes to wannabe clan founders, is how to found.

It's actually really simple; you just need a clan name and symbol (such as the Dark Eagles, symbol -}DE{-). Once you've thought of that, you have a clan.

The first step is establishing yourself as the leader. You will always be in control of your clan, and it is your example that members are to follow. So, set up some basic guidelines about loyalty and respect, as well as any other rules you feel the need to include, then abide by them and set a good example.

Next, you'll want to play the game(s) of your choice on the platform(s) of your choice, so set those games up from the start. All your members, including yourself, should play with your clan's tag (symbol) at the front of their names, for example -}DE{- Leader.

You should have a good plan for your clan, like what it's main focus will be; community/serious gaming, and any hierarchy or special features it will have. To make your clan special, you need good ideas and principles, which you must stick by. Planned clans are always more popular and more successful.

And then you will have a clan, ready and good to go.

2: Hosting

A clan is little without an HQ area, some sort of website for all to access and learn about your clan, as well as easy opportunities to recruit.

First off you'll need a host. Some of the best and most popular are Freewebs, Tripod and Geocities. If you are really devoted, you'll probably want to purchase a domain, and there are always dedicated clan hosting sites, such as Horatio's Rampage.

One of the main problems is not how to acquire hosting, but how to actually make a site. If you are completely new to web design, your best bet is to use a ready made template (provided by the host) or site creator application (can be purchased from PC stores).

You'll want to have a few pages for your site, obviously a description and basic information (use the main page for this), but plenty of pages you might want, depending on what you think is relevant. Such pages include Member lists, organisation, affliate links and so on.

A wise idea is to include contact info and registration info, if you can do forms use them, or you could include your email address and fields to fill out for potential recruits.

3: Recruiting

So, you've got your clan all set up, and ready to accept members and get playing.

You need a way to get members, however, and this could be one of your biggest issues. Probably the best way is to host a recruitment server in your chosen clan game(s), putting the site address in the server name and wait til interested people start playing and ask to join.

Another successful method is to advertise in the appropriate areas on the game sites (for example, Halo clans can use the specified forum [the Classifieds] on Bungie.net to advertise).

If you promote with good adverts, showing that you are intelligent in your posts, and make your clan a good image, the members will start pouring in by the score (metaphorically speaking).

Obviously, in any adverts you make, the main point you want to get across is clear, defined information about your clan, as well as the contact information.

Sometimes membership will run thin, but you should never give up, as all hope is never lost!

4: Events

Obviously, a clan wouldn't be a clan if it didn't play games together.

So, your next step is to start organising events. One of the best ways is via a calendar; you can get these from hosts willing to share the code, or on your own forums. When you are going to host a clan event, post details on the calendar so that members will attend.

Another successful message is via Instant Messenger (AOL Instant Messenger and MSN are the most popular), where you can start events on the spot.

By playing as a team, your clan will become more trusting and more successful, and will begin to win more often.

Practice is one of the keys to being a good clan, so the more you practice, the better you will become.

5: Your forums

Part 5Copyright 2004 Halodude12344
Alot of clans like a forum to use. Sometimes its hard to communicate with other team members. Forums help set up events and meeting times. They are much more flexible than that. And they're easy to get. You're in one. An easy way is through invisionfree, which we're using now.

Go to InvisionFree for starters. Go to register. First fill in the name of your board. Next fill in your username, what you'll be known as. Choose a category, I'm not too sure if it matters. Next is your password. A perfect example is mine, which is *gets sniped by Psyched*. -blam- noob! I was typing! Oh yes, just enter a password. Then verify it. Do the same for your e-mail. Then you've got your own forum. You can change the settings from the Admin CP. You've got your own forum.

Bear in mind that InvisionFree is not the only free (or paid) forum service available, but is considered by many to be easily the best, so have a look around before committing to something you might later regret.

6: Expansion

So let's look back at what you've got now.

A clan with plenty of members, a good website, forums, and is fairly well known.

Now you can take the next step, into expansion.

You'll probably want a special feature of your clan, one of the most popular is a ranking system, based on military ranks. Some form of hierarchy is often a wise addition, as it serves as an incentive for members to be good, and it's also likely that you'll want some commanders to make your clan efficient.

With that set up, it's time to go pro.

A good, professional clan, has good principles (and sticks by them), knows what they're talking about, and is organised enough to be ready for any events that might occur. Another useful inclusion is a pro-looking site (a good idea is to advertise with a job opening for web designer, you might hit the jackpot and find someone who is great with HTML).

Organisation and efficiency will be the driving forces of your clan. If you can keep yourself organised, get things done without making a big fuss, then you will stand out and quickly battle your way to the Elite of clans.

7: Clan wars

Obviously, the main focus of a clan is to play online, get good, and win your battles.

Before long, you'll want to start challenging other clans to battles, for pride and glory. Remember, you cannot always win; but the best way to improve is to fight those better than you.

Clan battles are referred to in common terminology as Clan wars.

You can fight clan wars by having an even number of your team against an even number of an enemy team. The best way to find other clans that are willing to fight is to meet them on websites, one of the most commonly used and best places for this is the dedicated Klanwars site. Then you can record your results and have a running score, as well as position out of all other participating clans.

Another method is to just play online games and look for clans to fight, maybe they will find you. Of course, your games should have a password set up so only the right members can play (and you won't have to bother with kicking and banning).

Playing against others is a good method to see how good you and your clan are, as well as to rack up glory.

8: Maintenance

The final step is simply maintaining your clan!

Keep your systems and sites up and running, know when to draw the line (on member totals and so on), and maintain regular service.

An organised clan is much easier to maintain than an unorganised one, and in the end the good, organised ones will always shine through.

  • 09.22.2004 2:10 PM PDT

yoo•zel- ('yoo-zhul): slang: vb.

Officium quod Fidelitas.

If you have anything helpful to add to this guide, let me know and I will be around to unlock it for you. Other than that, this will remain pinned and locked for all to use.

  • 09.23.2004 8:59 AM PDT

Add the email above to your MSN to contact me with emergencies on the forum.

FOR CARNAGE, APPLY WITHIN
Marathon, Myth, and MORE (Under construction)

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A great topic, and I'd like to elaborate on one of the points therin.

One of the few things that many clans overlook is the actual implementation of rules.

A common problem is that, in the excitement of getting ready to command, the Clan's founder may think that the ideas that are common sense in his head, are common sense in others as well.


Rule #1

Never assume ANYONE has any common sense. This applies to regular life too.


As you may think some things don't need to be said, someone will invariably prove you wrong. Things like a code of conduct don't need to be in depth, but they do need to be clear and firm.

A second problem is, how do you actually punish someone?
Rule #2

Think of a suitable deterrent for bad behavior.


This is often the hardest thing to actually do, in my clan, we charged dues, this wasn't a problem because we all lived and played in the same 25 mile radius, and a suspension meant that the member was out of a couple of bucks. I will be reworking this for the annexed groups to come.

MAKE SURE THE PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME. Don't kick someone out for acting like an ass if it was in the heat of a fight, usually a quick reprimand, or a seclusion from clan activities will be sufficient for such transgressions, but for more serious offenses, it may be justified. Always try to keep such punishments quiet and in your own clan, you don't want another clan to know that there may be dissention in the ranks.


Make sure you have membership levels and tasks that fit the clan well.
Rule #3

The clans by-laws should detail the heirarchy of the clan and the methods of advancement and reward.


This is one of the easiest to do so there's no reason to forget it.


Finally, there is almost always going to be the occasional argument between members of your own clan.
Rule #4

Make sure you make provisions in the by-laws to anticipate inter-clan arguments, and approved ways to settle arguments.


In IT, there are a series of vendetta trials that use gameplay to settle arguments. This serves two goals well, it's more practice, and it helps to alleviate arguments with a minimum of antipathy.

Here is the complete by-laws from my clan, feel free to borrow or trim what you wish, or just read it to get ideas,Horitsu This may help you in creating and refining your own Laws and hopefully help to create stronger clans.


I hope to eventually play you all! Good Luck!

[Edited on 9/25/2004 9:48:45 AM]

  • 09.25.2004 9:47 AM PDT

yoo•zel- ('yoo-zhul): slang: vb.

Officium quod Fidelitas.

[color=red]Web Site Creation[/color]

The first step in creating a good looking web site is learning the basics of HTML.
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is similar to using BBcode on the bungie forums.W3 Schools Has a great and easy HTML Tutorial.
If you don't have time to learn HTML then there's site that do it for you. They provide step-by-step web site creating systems. Such as Moon Fruit and FreeWebs.

If your using Html then your going to need a place to host it. I recommend Yahoo! GeoCities. If you don't want that then search for one on google.

One way of making your clan site look good is to get "Templates". Templates are Photos that make your site look Professional. Clantemplates.com and ThinkDesigns are great place to find free ones!

Spelling! Spelling is has a major role in making your site presentable. I recommend opening a spell checker and making sure you used proper Spelling and grammar.

Forums. If you have a clan web site you need forums. Now that bungie opened Group Creation then use those forums, otherwise you can find them Here. Also make sure your forums look like there part of your site. You can do this by adding custom pictures and banners.

PhotoShop! Get this because in order to make your site look good with pictures you'll need to be able edit them and make nice looking pictures. I would recommend Adobe Photoshop! You can find this here.

If all the sites on the Internet looked the same the Internet would be very boring! Thats why when making your site please be creative. Add something that no other clan site has, weather it be from Comics to FAQ's. Make your site stand out from the rest. Also Make it something your members can enjoy.
If you want to add some cool stuff to your site like counters or polls then this place can help. And I hope that I helped also!

This was written by: antiherosk8er

[Edited on 9/25/2004 10:29:18 PM]

  • 09.25.2004 10:25 PM PDT