Clans

[Locke]

Several people now have expressed interest in adding a clan system, but I never quite understood what that meant. Please use this thread to clarify for me, discuss benefits, implementation specifics, etc. Thanks.

 

[Fraxinus]

You mean like ZU's clan system? Well, each clan is a separate usergroup, each with access to a corresponding forum for all the clan members to have discussions amongst themselves. That's the gist of it, anyways. There's a lot more that can be done with the concept, like I know ZU has "clan wars" from time to time, but I'm not entirely sure how that works. The idea of having clans is to hepl a huge community feel a little more cozy in that the members are sort of an "immediate family," if you will.

 

[Emma]

I only have a few basic points. First off, I think at the very least the Hylian Knights should be converted into the first clan. I think that clans can help us all get along better and have some fun and it'll help ease tensions and help us better understand one another. Converting the knights into a clan will better reflect the less serious attitude that the current knights do instead of the false image that a lot of the people critical of them have. We can also convert the process of joining them to instead be based on intent to be a positive influence and good role model instead of a judgmental voting system. That means we could have dozens of people in it instead of only a dozen. We can have clans for various different things. Values, virtues, role playing. Whatever. I'm sure we can work out the details.

Djinn has pushed for this idea before and I'm very interested in hearing what he has to say about what we could do with it. I tried to find a post of his on the matter that I could quote but I couldn't seem to find one.

 

[A Link In Time]

I definitely support a test of the clan idea for at least a week or two. I think it can go beyond what ZU does and allow users in multiple clans.

In my view, clans shouldn't be used as some place for serious discussion. Making ranks like HK into a clan or some subforum like a clan eliminates their purpose which is to have fun with groups of like minded people. Clans should be some sort of merge between General Discussion and Forum Games; they should be subforums for relaxation and casual discussion.

 

[Mamono101]

I definitely support a test of the clan idea for at least a week or two. I think it can go beyond what ZU does and allow users in multiple clans.

In my view, clans shouldn't be used as some place for serious discussion. Making ranks like HK into a clan or some subforum like a clan eliminates their purpose which is to have fun with groups of like minded people. Clans should be some sort of merge between General Discussion and Forum Games; they should be subforums for relaxation and casual discussion.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I would be very intrested to see something like this implemented. Archangel tried to implement something of a similar nature, though restricted to the WCC and I really liked his proposed idea.

I feel that clans would be a good way for people with similar interests to be able to find other find each other more easily making for an improved community experience.

 

[*M i d n a*]

Clans would be good even for the competition section. Clans would be competing now in contests, which in my own opinion are losing interest as the days go by. I hope clans are integrated because I think they would definitely boost activity, interest, etc. I'm all up for it.

 

[Big Octo]

We should at least give it a shot, so long as one clan doesn't have anymore power/privileges than another.

 

[kokirion]

As long as CCC has more privileges than others*


No, but I really love this idea. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Locke]

(re) making HK a clan: wouldn't that further drive the perception of a superiority club and promote more resentment?

(re) similar interests: why are groups not sufficient?

 

[Ganondork]

(re) similar interests: why are groups not sufficient?

Groups are shoved in a corner, so a lot of people don't even notice them. You have to subscribe to them, and check constantly on your settings tab to get to that. Naturally you can see how that's a problem. I sometimes forget that groups even exist, and plenty of other ones do. Most groups tend to die out after a few days, anyway.

The big difference between groups and clans would be:

a) they're in plain sight, as they'd be a forum. This allows for more accessibility and less of a likelihood that they'll be forgotten.

b) they're less niche. That's the thing with groups. They appeal to a single interest, and that's it. Once that topic has been discussed to death, or more commonly forgotten, then the group effectively dies.

c) it gives benefits that bring the community together. Username colors have been brought up often on the subject. People getting colors by joining a clan makes them feel special, and more inclined to participate in their clan. In groups, people just pop in, post once, and usually leave it at that. Clans would have more incentive because they would feel more connected with their fellow clan members.

Furthermore, I fully support clans

 

[Mamono101]

(re) similar interests: why are groups not sufficient?

The groups that I have joined tend to fall into disuse shortly after they are created and are relatively inactive with very few members in total. The clan implementation would ( I assume) not fall into the same trappings as there would be more people per clan on a rotational basis as new members join and older members leave and the idea of having a 'moderator' or perhaps a 'clan leader' (democratically elected) would help foster the activity within the discussions. Groups become old and get pushed further back into the archives and the older the group, the less the likelihood of discussion. Plus the clans should be exclusively related to the forums and not for instance, dedicated to some obscure television show.

If the idea were to go ahead, the types of allowed clans would need to be discussed and settled upon so there is a clear purpose behind them.

 

[Snow Queen]

Here's a question: is the immediate dedicated userbase even large enough to have a system like this?

 

[Lord Vain]

You mean like ZU's clan system? Well, each clan is a separate usergroup, each with access to a corresponding forum for all the clan members to have discussions amongst themselves. That's the gist of it, anyways. There's a lot more that can be done with the concept, like I know ZU has "clan wars" from time to time, but I'm not entirely sure how that works. The idea of having clans is to hepl a huge community feel a little more cozy in that the members are sort of an "immediate family," if you will.

I participated in the clan wars this year, and while I don't know enough to give an extremely detailed explanation of it all, the wars are basically a wide variety of different events and competitions which all the clans are involved it. Judges are picked for each clan as well, and when the deadlines for entries is met, submissions are closed and the grading takes place and lasts a few days or something. Then, when all points have been added up and everything, the clan with the most wins. Each clan would have its own command center for discussion related to the wars as well, and opposing clan members could enter said command centers to give encouragement or whatever and mention looking forward to what may come from the other clans, stuff like that.

Also, clans themselves have separate award nominations each year, there are the main site awards which would include any and all members of the site who may be active and noteworthy, and then clan awards which are nominations in each clan only involving members of said clan, spare for like one of them which is an "honorary" award given to a Mod from another clan who likes to post in a separate one for whatever reasons, since all Mods can access all of the different clan sections regardless of what clan they may be in.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I have an idea if this comes into fruition.

You have 6 clans all based off the elements present in the Zelda series: Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, Spirit and Light. So basically they're all related to the different Sages and each clan badge would have that special symbol.

**I'm fully aware this isn't solely a Zelda forum, but a very large portion of it is, plus it's still called "Zelda Dungeon", so it makes perfect sense for this to be something Zelda related.

 

[Pen]

You have 6 clans all based off the elements present in the Zelda series: Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, Spirit and Light. So basically they're all related to the different Sages and each clan badge would have that special symbol.

I agree with this suggestion wholeheartedly! I think it sounds terrific!

Whatever we end up doing with these clans though, I'm sure it'll be a fun thing to try out.