[Discussion] Clans!

[WindowOpener]

When clans were introduced with zOMG! they attracted our attention for one good reason: they gave users the ability to administrate their own forums and run their own communities in a common interest. Suddenly, it dawned on someone: something here is a familiar...

The Gaia Staff must have thought they were very clever - not only was the move remarkably efficient, but maybe, just maybe, our incessant whining about updates would be disrupted by a new kind of moral dilemma. Which twin do we love more?

In characteristic cold-hearted, cold-shouldering GGN style, we were not amused. While searching for some bathwater in which to throw out the new baby, we demanded to know what had possessed the admins to "bother" making clans (and steadfastly denied we were bitter about the absence of a GGN update).

I've speculated before that clans probably used the GGN code base because the admins wanted a forum feature linked with zOMG! and replicating the GGN's was the easiest way to get one. There may be plans to develop the two features in entirely different directions. This may be the case, even if clans are eventually updated similarly to guilds over the next few months. That hasn't happened yet, but if it does, wouldn't that be awful?

whee Discuss and speculate about the future of clans, whether they are a good, bad or indifferent thing for guilds, and whether you feel naturally inclined to hate or love them. ^^  

[MemoryDragon]

I honestly have no use for clans. I've considered joining one, but it would just be more random chatter in the zomg when I might need to be paying attention to something else.

Unless it were a very small group of friends, I don't see any reason for me to join a clan. So really, I have no opinion on the matter... Haven't used them or needed them. sweatdrop

But, if they were to get an update, I'm sure that wouldn't be a bad thing. After all, it is the guild codes. If they can update the clan codes, they should be able to update the guild codes, n'est-ce pas?  

[Purple Thriller]

Clans seem like a waste of time. Im spending enough time on my own guilds when a cleanup needs to happen or ban's are necessary. Plus I send out nice little messages to to new members/inactive members.

Either way, they're gonna have people bitching at them for updates. So why not just update the guilds and post an announcement and have guild crew's be in charge of making a ZOMG!!! clan forum. It'd be a whole lot cheaper than buying one(wait, are they free...?).

I'd rather just deal with the guilds. Im in an ZOMG!!! clan, Im crew too since my cousin talked the owner into making me crew cause of his experience with my leadership not only here, but on Xbox Live too.  

[WindowOpener]

I've noticed that quite a lot of clans were actually made to 'represent' guilds. surprised For example, at some stage I was invited to the Pirates Against Flaming guild's clan.

What if clans were part of the GGN, and part of guilds, as one of those features you can buy with guild gold?  

[MemoryDragon]

Having the clans be part of the guild makes a heck of a lot more sense... But the problem is you can only join one clan, but you can have multiple guilds.

That's the main reason I would presume that Gaia didn't just make it part of the guilds. The one clan limit. One can understand why, when you think about how much all those clans would do to one player on the ZOMG! I'm not even sure how or if they should work to get around that one limit.  

[St._Jimmy]

WindowOpener

When clans were introduced with zOMG! they attracted our attention for one good reason: they gave users the ability to administrate their own forums and run their own communities in a common interest. Suddenly, it dawned on someone: something here is a familiar...

The Gaia Staff must have thought they were very clever - not only was the move remarkably efficient, but maybe, just maybe, our incessant whining about updates would be disrupted by a new kind of moral dilemma. Which twin do we love more?

In characteristic cold-hearted, cold-shouldering GGN style, we were not amused. While searching for some bathwater in which to throw out the new baby, we demanded to know what had possessed the admins to "bother" making clans (and steadfastly denied we were bitter about the absence of a GGN update).

I've speculated before that clans probably used the GGN code base because the admins wanted a forum feature linked with zOMG! and replicating the GGN's was the easiest way to get one. There may be plans to develop the two features in entirely different directions. This may be the case, even if clans are eventually updated similarly to guilds over the next few months. That hasn't happened yet, but if it does, wouldn't that be awful?

whee Discuss and speculate about the future of clans, whether they are a good, bad or indifferent thing for guilds, and whether you feel naturally inclined to hate or love them. ^^

Clans are pointless, evil, and should never have been introduced to gaia. I think one of the reasons they were introduced was to try to shut people up about updating guild.

PS. I hate clans with a passion. evil stressed  

[LillianSaire]

The idea of clans is a copy on guilds and tribes of MMOGs that aren't forum sites, but games, first and foremost.

Problem: clan channel doesn't always work and everyone's character info shows the title of your clan.  

[Bearded Unicorn]

St._Jimmy

Clans are pointless, evil, and should never have been introduced to gaia. I think one of the reasons they were introduced was to try to shut people up about updating guild.

PS. I hate clans with a passion. evil stressed

you hate clans, but still make part of one?
I'm not here to defend clans, I'm here just to say that, clans and guild, are almost the same thing. People used clans to do successful guilds. But what really bugs me, is that after they created the clans, every time they updated guilds, clans got worse. Now, key words doesn't work, and the first page is full of useless created clans, with one person only.

But if the ever think in deleting clans, just take in consideration people put some money in it (in my case... something close to 20k), to bring members. SO i say, if they ever think in 'turning off' the clans, they could at least, transform the clans in guilds, or refund the clan owners.  

[shall she sail seas]

I've never played zOMG! or been part of a clan. However, I am quite familiar with RPG-type games and their clan-like communites (thanks to a game-addicted ex rolleyes ).

The concept of having a clan is actually sound. Forums are needed not just for chatter, but to organise real-time meetings within the game, share tactics, and know what everyone's doing in general.

Whether this concept is truly practical is up for debate. I recall hearing that there's no way of identifying clan members while you're in the actual game (e.g. there's no clan name displayed below your username) so unless you know your clan members extremely well, you wouldn't know you're playing with a friend. That already creates a huge inconvenience for real-time meetings, which should be the bulk of social RPG playing.

So yes, I can agree that clans are pretty stupid at this point. My suggestion is to do away with all the shiney new features and go with an extremely basic forum template until they've programmed them to work PROPERLY. Honestly, a forum can still survive without broadcasting, subforums, tags, etc.

I don't care for new features. Bluntly, the latest update with the guilds page is completely useless to me, no matter how cool it looks. And Gaians are an innovative bunch. If you don't make a feature, we dance around the system to make our own: think about members hosting their own contests and how they manipulate gold in the process, for example.  

[Bearded Unicorn]

NomNomNominal

I've never played zOMG! or been part of a clan. However, I am quite familiar with RPG-type games and their clan-like communites (thanks to a game-addicted ex rolleyes ).

The concept of having a clan is actually sound. Forums are needed not just for chatter, but to organise real-time meetings within the game, share tactics, and know what everyone's doing in general.

Whether this concept is truly practical is up for debate. I recall hearing that there's no way of identifying clan members while you're in the actual game (e.g. there's no clan name displayed below your username) so unless you know your clan members extremely well, you wouldn't know you're playing with a friend. That already creates a huge inconvenience for real-time meetings, which should be the bulk of social RPG playing.

So yes, I can agree that clans are pretty stupid at this point. My suggestion is to do away with all the shiney new features and go with an extremely basic forum template until they've programmed them to work PROPERLY. Honestly, a forum can still survive without broadcasting, subforums, tags, etc.

I don't care for new features. Bluntly, the latest update with the guilds page is completely useless to me, no matter how cool it looks. And Gaians are an innovative bunch. If you don't make a feature, we dance around the system to make our own: think about members hosting their own contests and how they manipulate gold in the process, for example.

to say the truth, you can recognize a clan member at zomg. If you click at a person and click at "character info", you can see which clan the person makes part. But i think it is lagged, because everyone is at the same clan....