Some Clan Suggestions

[Hambone]

     The entirety of this post is based on the assumption that SO3 will have clans. If you think I'm way off base, you can stop reading now. The suggestions that follow are my opinions on how the clan system should work, from start to finish.
Starting a clan:
     I am of the opinion that in SO3, clans should be handled primarily in the game itself, meaning that a forums topic is just a recommended feature. To handle the clans in-game, perhaps a shopkeep type NPC would be necessary. When one goes to this NPC, they have to option to either A) start a clan or B) join a clan.
     If they choose A, they are taken to a field where they enter the clan name. After that, they are given a dialogue box that says: "10 players must commit 500,000 total gold to your clan in under 7 days." At this point, the clan leader begins collecting players to take option B.
     When a player selects option B they are taken to a list of clans. These clans are separated into two categories, "Fledgling Clans" and "Existing Clans". If a player clicks an existing clan in the list, They can look at some of it's stats, such as members and date of creation. They also can request to join. If this happens, a request is sent to that leader who will receive it upon his next log-in. The leader will then either Accept, Reject or Stall the request. A stalled request will pop-up upon the leader's next sign in. If the request is accepted, the player is added to the clan list, and the opposite if not. If a player selects a fledgling clan, they can look at how many people are currently recruited and how much money is yet to be raised. They also have the option to send a request to join. Again, a notification is sent to the clan-leader hopeful, who says Accept, Reject, or Stall. Once a player is accepted into a fledgling clan, he may contribute to the sum of gold (in our case 500,000) that the clan must raise to become a true clan. If the clan does not meet the 10 player and 500,000 gold requirements within 7 days, all recruits will get their money back and the clan will be erased from the list.

Being in a Clan:
     Congratulations on being in a new clan! Time for more suggestions. In the interest of time, I'll do these in a quick list.

• Any member inactive for over 15 days is automatically removed from a clan, and a notification of this is sent to the leader. If this person logs in again, they are notified that they have been kicked out of the clan.
• If a clan drops below 10 members (or however many it is decided is necessary to start a clan) the clan is removed from the list
• A player may request to quit a clan at any time at the Clan NPC by clicking on their current clan in the list and hitting a button that will now say leave clan where the join button once was. This will be a pricey venture.
• A player may not join more than one clan at a time. When they look at other clans through the clan NPC, they will not be given a "request to join" button.
• Clan PvP, much like what was in SO2 is a must.
• Clan leaders can send one message per day to every member of the clan. Reminders of clan wars, happenings and what-not. Only one to prevent abuse. Members will receive this while they play or upon next log in.
• Maybe a ranking system organized by the player to show clan member status? This one seems like it could be tricky though.
• If a clan leader is in active for over 30 days, the clan is disbanded and notifications of this are given to the members.

     Whew. That was a long read. I realize many of these ideas probably a bit underdeveloped. I don't excatly have the time to write a 20 page dissertation on SO. This is where you, the community come to my rescue and build off of this. Or tear it to shreds. Happy replying.

P.S Yes I understand this is a lot of work on the Big Guy's part, but it's up to him to decide what, if any of this, will go into the game.

[Cactuscat222]

A few things...

I don't think players should be allowed to "apply" to a guild through a button. Then clan leaders of the upper clans will just get bogged down by players who want to join. Rather, it should only be the clan leadership that can invite people to join - this will remove alot of the hassle.

Second, I don't think a player should be removed for being absent for any amount of time. It should be up to the clan leadership to remove players if they have been inactive. Additionally, having the clan disabled because the leader is gone for an extended period of time is also a bad idea; life happens and people can't always make time.

Disbanding a clan with under 10 members I don't think is fair either. I think a small clan should be allowed to exist. I agree though with having to have at least 10 players join initially.

Uhm, I'd definitely say there should be clan chat, so you can talk with your clan members. Plus, the clan leader should be allowed to send a  lot of messages, but I'm not sure what you mean by message. They should be able to set a clan message though that a person sees every time they log in, and this can be changed at anytime.

Clan leadership options are a must. Having additional officers is helpful when the leader isn't on.

Other than that, good list. I sorta like the idea of having to raise a certain amount of money to create the clan, weeds out lower levels trying to make clans - although that could be a bad thing. I definitely don't want it to be a system that disallows low level players from joining clans, but rather one that would make it harder to start one. It all depends really.

[Seifer]

Look guys, we do plan to have a fully functional, user interfaced clan system for So3. One you have control over. Alot of what Cactus mentions is probably alot better than when you mentioned, but I'm not going to flesh out the details here.




PSPSPSPSPS. Cacti your hotkeys don't work on fullscreen  :'(

[Cactuscat222]

Look guys, we do plan to have a fully functional, user interfaced clan system for So3. One you have control over. Alot of what Cactus mentions is probably alot better than when you mentioned, but I'm not going to flesh out the details here.




PSPSPSPSPS. Cacti your hotkeys don't work on fullscreen  :'(

That is good to hear then, since I assume Meiun wants to make SOv3 more stylized in his PvP approach, and maybe more oriented on that? Meiun has never mentioned anything about that actually...

PSPSPSPSPS. Yeah, my hotkeys program is just a little outdated and clunky program at this point. It doesn't work with full screen because that changes the resolution of the window, so the coordinates become off :( I always say I'll make a new version, but I'm not sure when really.

[Lingus]

Between Ham's initial post and Cacti's modifications, it sounds like a good system.

I'd like to add that the initial start up should definitely be all on the leader. He/she should have to gather at least 10 people, all online at the same time (they would just press accept when a dialogue pops up after the leader creates the clan). He/she should also have to gather the required amount of funds and it should all be in their possession. This shows leadership. If they can't either acquire the funds through their own means, and/or by gathering at least 10 people who are also willing to contribute and trust this person with their gold, then they aren't fit to lead a clan.

[Seifer]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

[Hambone]

All the numbers were just examples. They should be tweaked to fit the game. For all I know, nobody in SO3 will ever reach 500,000 gold

[Lingus]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

I'd say either change the gold requirement (as in if a 10 person clan needs 10,000 gold, a 5 person clan would need 20,000 or something like that) or make that clan have less abilities or something. I'm not sure what's being added as far as clan functions in the game, but say clan hideouts or something like that. Maybe your clan's ability to have a hideout, or the size of the hideout or something is determined by the number of founding members.

[Looperpuck]

Do you think there should be a limitation to how many clans can be made? I'm just thinking about that, maybe around 12 clans allowed at a time? Just because I don't think to many people would want to see over 20 clans running around.

~Looperpuck

[Cactuscat222]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

I'd say either change the gold requirement (as in if a 10 person clan needs 10,000 gold, a 5 person clan would need 20,000 or something like that) or make that clan have less abilities or something. I'm not sure what's being added as far as clan functions in the game, but say clan hideouts or something like that. Maybe your clan's ability to have a hideout, or the size of the hideout or something is determined by the number of founding members.

Rather than the amount of members, things like those could be bought with gold. Or, you could have it so that the clan "levels" from kills and PvP, and gains its own currency that can be spent on things for the clans. So, a smaller guild could attain all the things a larger one has, but the larger clan will have the advantage of gaining more "levels" and guild points to spend faster.

Do you think there should be a limitation to how many clans can be made? I'm just thinking about that, maybe around 12 clans allowed at a time? Just because I don't think to many people would want to see over 20 clans running around.

~Looperpuck

No. Limiting the number would be ridiculous in my opinion. Having set factions or what not is not as fun, whereas allowing players to make their own, and then the weaker ones get weeded out is better. Then you truly get that feeling of establishing a great clan from the ground up.

[Lucifer]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

I'd say either change the gold requirement (as in if a 10 person clan needs 10,000 gold, a 5 person clan would need 20,000 or something like that) or make that clan have less abilities or something. I'm not sure what's being added as far as clan functions in the game, but say clan hideouts or something like that. Maybe your clan's ability to have a hideout, or the size of the hideout or something is determined by the number of founding members.

Rather than the amount of members, things like those could be bought with gold. Or, you could have it so that the clan "levels" from kills and PvP, and gains its own currency that can be spent on things for the clans. So, a smaller guild could attain all the things a larger one has, but the larger clan will have the advantage of gaining more "levels" and guild points to spend faster.

I love the idea of clans having their own currency. As a PvP based game (and I highly doubt So3 will change in that aspect), clans are the one thing that must be done right, and the game would benefit most from if done correctly and in depth. Allowing clans to pool their money and spend it on clan related things like bases or equipment just sounds amazing to me. About the gold required to make a clan, I don't think there should be different costs for different amounts, instead just a base cost, and further upgrades are required to be bought in order to increase the limit.

[Lingus]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

I'd say either change the gold requirement (as in if a 10 person clan needs 10,000 gold, a 5 person clan would need 20,000 or something like that) or make that clan have less abilities or something. I'm not sure what's being added as far as clan functions in the game, but say clan hideouts or something like that. Maybe your clan's ability to have a hideout, or the size of the hideout or something is determined by the number of founding members.

I guess my problem with that is that one person could then potentially make a clan if they have acquired enough money. Making a clan should not simply be about money. It should be about being a leader. This is why the requirement of grouping 10 people together makes sense. If you can't even get 10 people together, then you shouldn't be able to lead a clan. I honestly don't think 10 is too big of a number. If you keep it to that number and never add anyone, it could still be a tight knit group. Just make sure everyone you pick is a good friend or someone you trust.

But yes, everything else about your post I agree with. The more people you have in your group the more likely you are to have more money which you can spend on clan related things.

[Seifer]

What about those that want to have a say... small tight knit 5 man clan?

I'd say either change the gold requirement (as in if a 10 person clan needs 10,000 gold, a 5 person clan would need 20,000 or something like that) or make that clan have less abilities or something. I'm not sure what's being added as far as clan functions in the game, but say clan hideouts or something like that. Maybe your clan's ability to have a hideout, or the size of the hideout or something is determined by the number of founding members.

I guess my problem with that is that one person could then potentially make a clan if they have acquired enough money. Making a clan should not simply be about money. It should be about being a leader. This is why the requirement of grouping 10 people together makes sense. If you can't even get 10 people together, then you shouldn't be able to lead a clan. I honestly don't think 10 is too big of a number. If you keep it to that number and never add anyone, it could still be a tight knit group. Just make sure everyone you pick is a good friend or someone you trust.

But yes, everything else about your post I agree with. The more people you have in your group the more likely you are to have more money which you can spend on clan related things.

And if say, we don't have such a requirement and someone who isn't a very good leader spends his money making a clan then what? Than his clan crashes and burns. Leadership shouldn't be measured by popularity or friends. Clan creating shouldn't be about who has the most pals to get the ball rolling, it's about who has an established clan and can lead it successfully towards growth and prosperity. There need not be a Member requirement test pre-creation because running the clan IS the test. If you would not have been able to muster the 10 people, than you wont have a very successful run at clan leader.

On the same note, what of those who wish to be the sole owner and member of a clan? Maybe someone who feels they don't wish to be a piece of any group, but does not wish to miss out on the joys of clans, while at the same time having a small symbol of pride in the fact that he as a neat little clan name over his head. Obviously someone who is the sole member of a clan could never even dream of being on a competitive scale with other guilds. He would have no advantages, only disadvantages.

I just think you are all looking at this much to narrow, whereas we should allow people to have an opportunity to really take this clan system where they want to take it. Let the users create the community, not us. I've always been a firm believer that you should allow your player base to build and create the structure of the environment, let them find their own ways to do things, rather than design the best ways to accomplish something. Sorry, that sounds confusing. Let's use an example. a TCG. Magic the gathering or Yugioh or Pokemon or whatever, the designers of these card games create the cards. But that's all. They don't sit down and build decks and decide what decks should be the best for the game, than design cards around it. They design the cards, and let the players figure out the synergies between cards, combos of cards and best possible combination of cards to create competitive decks. With that in mind, I think that something like the clan system should follow the same model. We give you the tools to create a functional clan, and you take it where you will.

[Lingus]

Yea, I guess that's fine. I guess the way i was looking at it was more a typical MMORPG style clan/guild creation. The idea is that you have to meet these requirements in order to prove you are worthy of being a leader of a large group. So being the leader of a clan immediately shows that you have the ability. Verses the way you are talking about it, you choose to become a leader of a "clan" (even if the clan consists of only 1 person, in which case calling it a clan is not really accurate) and you then have to prove that you are a worthy by building up the clan. Which is fine I guess...

One thing I would have to say is that acquiring clan items such as a hideout or whatever there will be available should be exteremly difficult for a small group. I'd almost say next to impossible in any timely manner. In order to do this, you would have to pool the resources of several average players or a smaller group of dedicated players.