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Nup! Squad Features (N!SF) was started by myself and two other schoolmates during Battlefield 2 and its Project Reality mod. Initially we were not a clan proper but the three of us wore tags to show to the rest of the server that we were in fact working and communicating together.

From there, the three of us moved to the Team Fortress 2 Beta and recieved a couple of requests to join our clan that didn’t actually exist at the time. At that point we made the decision to turn the clan into an actual recruiting entity to see how things go, and began to scour the public servers for people we enjoyed playing with and handed them invites. So, from the three original “founders” we slowly grew, findind recruit after recruit and gradually building a team of people who work well together and are cool to play with. I’ve never run a clan before so this was an interesting learning experience.

2) How are things different for you, running a clan out of Australia?

We have a much smaller player base in Australia when compared to America, and as a result the community is quite tightly knit. You can join a public server and a majority of the time find a couple of familiar faces already in there.

The servers also work differently. We have large numbers of servers hosted by a few major Australian ISP’s as opposed to the mix of private and gaming website sponsored servers found in America. These servers are affected by members of those ISPs’ forums, and so there is always a place for grievances to be aired and requests to be made. There are enough one-map and full-rotation servers to keep everyone happy. Our largest league is hosted by one of our major ISP’s with just under one hundred Australian clans competing, whilst Aussie enthusiast sites host smaller, more competitive ladders.

I also find that Aussie gamers have a different attitude to online gaming when compared to Americans - I’ve played in American servers and Aussie gamers are far more laid-back when it comes to playing the game and working as a team. Occasionally someone will fire up over voice-chat but its nothing compared to the torrents of abuse thrown around in your average US pub server. Australians play casually and to have a bit of fun, and we have based our clan on this underlying principle. After all - it’s just a game.

3) How to you go about making sure your members show up for practices and scrims? Alot of teams have alot of trouble with this.

When one of our captains organises a match we will make a new thread on our forum, detailing the opposition, time and date, as well as the maps that are going to be played. From there, members can post with their availability so we can gauge interest, and also so they can get a heads up on when matches are going to take place. Ideally we like the required match number of people to reply as well as a couple of reserves if some members have to withdraw at the last minute.

On the night of a scheduled match we usually hop into our server an hour before to run through our tactics for the maps and make last minute adjustments to our team. This is a great warmup and means everyone on the team is ready to go with their roles and strategies fresh in their memory. Everyone plays much more relaxed when they don’t need to ask what to do in the middle of a round.

Since we are not a hardcore competitive clan we don’t punish members who fail to turn up, as we feel that will stop people from posting at all and is just plain nasty. Instead we simply look on our list to find someone to fill in. Steam has been very useful in this regard and I can’t imagine managing a clan without its community features.

Whilst we prefer to have our scrims shceduled in advance we will occasionally organise a spontaneous match with another clan if both have sufficient numbers. N!SF has reached a capacity whereby we can usually round together enough people at any one time for a decent match.

4) What are some of your most effective ways to promote your clan?

Initially the three original members just played as we normally do in pub servers with the clan tags on. Coming straight out Project Reality - a game where you simply could not play without effective communication - meant that we were often the only ones talking and using teamwork to such a degree that it carried the team through to a win. People would hear us laughing and chatting and be interested in joining in on the fun, then ask if we were recruiting.

In the first few weeks after the formation of the clan I set up the website and forum. This was essential as I could direct those interested in joining to the website where they can read about what kind of clan we are and what kind of people we’re looking for. The forums are also essential for organisation, as an active and operational meeting place is often the requirement of many potential recruits.

I also love making videos, particularly of the clan’s exploits, and putting them up on YouTube. They showcase both the fun and enjoyable side of the clan as well as the high level of teamwork we employ in matches. Its very easy to share these videos and they spread quite quickly, and at the end of each is a link to our clan website. Lastly, we like to share our SourceTV demos from matches with various gaming enthusiast forums so they can have a taste of what its like playing alongside us.

5) How do you keep things interesting and exciting for your long term members?

We are gradually building in skill level as a clan and working our way up various ladders, competing against increasingly difficult opponents. Matches are becoming more and more challenging and so appeal to the regulars who like to push forward as a team. We are starting to have some fantastic and close matches as we identify opponents with the same skill level, and this is what keeps the regulars coming back for more.

Additionally we host a number of social events with unorthodox custom gamemodes. These are a great way to have a break from regular play and are a whole lot of fun for everyone involved.

Aside from that, I like to think its the atmosphere of the clan we have developed that keeps our regulars interested. We want nothing more than an enjoyable time regardless of whether we win or lose and I feel this is what online gaming should be about. We have seen a suprisingly large number of other competitive Australian clans disband because they either take the game too seriously or have an intense feud after losing a match. This is the last thing I want to happen to N!SF and so avoid pushing people to think about nothing but winning.

6) How do you generate money to deal with the cost of servers and maintaining a website?

The website is hosted with the free space given to me by my ISP, and DaN, one of our captains has generously donated the game server to the clan out of his own pocket. As such, money does not currently appear to be an issue.

7) What are some of the accomplishments (placements, tournaments, etc) of your team?

Since we were still in the process of recruiting at the time the first season of leagues began, we only managed to focus on one ladder and finished in the top 30 - out of over 100 entrants. Had we been organised earlier I feel we could have placed higher before the season ended, but I am still very happy with the result given the nature of our clan and the fact that many of us have never been in one before. Season 2 of a number of new ladders is about to begin down here and N!SF will be entering our best players now that we are firmly established.

I also feel the gaming community has identified the type of atmosphere that N!SF promotes and both enjoys and encourages more of it. We hear nothing but good things from those who play on our server, and they’ll often thank us for the fun and enjoyable time. It is the creation of this friendly environment that I feel is our greatest achievement as it is the entire point of the clan itself. Games are about having fun and I feel we’ve achieved a great balance between competitive and casual play.

-N!SF ThePhotoshop
http://nup.squadfeatures.com

Merging 2 separate gaming clans together into one organization can be quite the delicate task. After all, they are 2 separate entities probably managed in 2 separate ways. Merging is tricky because everyone always wants to be at the top of the totem pole and no one is going to be willing to sacrifice. Let’s just assume, for complexities sake, that both clans have similar ranking systems. There is no sure fired way to have this run smoothly, but here are some points to remember;

You could merge them together, having all members keep their previous rank. That would be a happy solution to a daunting problem. But, is it realistic? Probably not. When a clans member base doubles, the size of their leadership staff probably does not need to double. Excessive amounts of members with power will almost certainly lead to power abuse. Try to avoid this.

ALWAYS merge the two organizations into the largest one of the two. There is no need for 2 clans to share channels or servers, and hold separate websites, and remain two different entities. By size alone, the larger clan is entitled to keep it’s name, channel, and website, and the smaller clan should be merged into the structure already set by the larger clan.

All ranking decisions should be made by the 2 leaders. There is no civil way to go about it. Some people are going to lose rank to their new members. The 2 leader’s shoudl sit down and discuss how well of a job their current leadership staff’s have been doing.

Make sure you know what you’re getting into. Make absolutely sure of it. A merger could effectively dismantle an entire organization if it’s not done right. Know who you’ll be leading the clan alongside, and know him well. Know how he likes to lead his clan, and make sure his your styles will coincide with each others.

Don’t rush into it. Set a date and try to make the shift as seamlessly as possible. Make sure the dissolving clan leaves its members lots of ways to find out where to locate the new channel/server, and website.

Make your new members feel at home. Offer to play games with them, and most importantly get to know them. There is most certainly going to be an awkward timeframe after the merger where the two sides are getting to know each other, but try to deal with it be forging new friendships, instead of pushing them away.

The community Blizzard has set up through it’s string of releases in Starcraft, Warcraft3, and World of Warcraft have created a buzzing, vibrant online community with potential for infinite growth for any gaming organization with the will and the time. Blizzard takes their fansites and clans very serious, and often will offer beta accounts to webmasters of prominent sites when their available.

With Warcraft3, their in-game support for clans was revolutionary, including ranking systems, memberlists, clan ladders and more. Keep in mind that Warcraft3 was released in 2003. Starcraft 2 will presumably be released in 2008 and will more than likely be leaps and bound beyond Warcraft 3 as far as in-game clan support. Hopefully it will feature customizable ranks and channel moderation abilities.

Beyond the technical aspect, Starcraft 2 is probably one of the most anticipated games of all time. Its launch should be huge, with many players eagerly awaiting to jump at the first clan opportunity presented to them. My recommendation would be to be completely prepared for the launch of Starcraft 2 ahead of time. Those clans who are ready for the launch will benefit the most from the surge at the launch.

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To-Do Lists. Write everything down. Have a plan before you go in. If you take care of all the thinking ahead of time, you can cut out the awkward “Ok….what now?” waiting periods in between different tasks. Make your to-do lists semi detailed, but don’t go overboard with it. Give yourself a basic outline of what you want to accomplish for that day.

Establish Priorities. Make sure whatever your working on is the absolute best thing you could be working on at the time. If what your doing at the time isn’t going to benefit you the most, change it up. Save the less important jobs for when you have a bit of free time.

Keep A Notebook (And up to date) You’d be surprised how much keeping a notebook can help. Just to have all of your thoughts there in front of you sometimes saves you alot of mental stress when you’re trrying to get things done. Write anything of any importance in the notebook.

Of course staying organized is really more of a personality trait than anything else, but if you’re trying to make strides in the right direction then there are always things you can do to help yourself out.

We are also still looking for designers who wouldn’t mind throwing some templates our way. If you’d like to become part of Clan-Man staff, please email me at RBozeman2@gmail.com.

Thanks everyone.