Check this out (DEDICATION AND WHY CLANS FAIL)

I got this off of a post Weaz posted in the HOR forums its intresting.

DEDICATION AND WHY CLANS FAIL

One our most active posters recently wrote up this opinion, on why so many clans sink before they have a chance to succeed. Treat yourself to the writing of coolman0stress, a former Tribes 2 addict:


EDIT: coolman0stress says he is still an addict, and you can talk to him at our boards.


Like many gamers I’ve contemplated creating my own clan, from time to time. I consider myself a good player (Editor’s note: I can testify to that) and I do highly enjoy team work. One game I have really enjoyed playing for the past year is Tribes 2. And after about 3 months of playing, I decided to make my own little tribe. And even though we managed to a recruit a bunch of solid players, we failed.


Why? Not because we sucked, no, because of the lack of dedication. I mean everybody wanted to play and everybody wanted to compete, but not enough people were committed to practices. I was the tribe leader and tried hard to motivate people. I reminded my teammates time and time again about practices. Heck, I tried to find practice times that would be the most satisfactory for everyone! But it was still a poor attendance.


Some people didn't even show up after being admitted and just disappeared. Though some were really good team players. And one guy in particular was actually better than most of us combined. He joined the tribe because he was impressed with how the two of us worked together, even though I wasn't even close to being as good as he was. But we lost him. (Editor’s note: Maybe he didn’t like playing with school girls.)


Unfortunately at a crucial period, I lost my internet connection. I ended up moving and had to wait for 2 months to get connected again. I left a good -- real life -- friend incharge of the clan for me while I was gone. I entrusted him to try and at least play the game regularly, but he failed. Without me, the tribe just lost any interest it had generated before. My friend just stopped playing T2 all together, because I was no longer there and eventually the clan broke up. When I came back, I was deeply disappointed at both my friend and the tribe. It was too late; there was little I could do. So I had no choice but to disband the tribe. (Editor’s note: And kill your friend?)


For the next few months I played as a loner, getting my skill up, playing mostly with the friend who had failed me previously. But the two of us were and still are a good team, simply because we have the ability to talk to each other while playing the game, giving ourselves a small but significant advantage. Tribes 2, like most current online games, is a team game, so even though I had a good time double teaming on unfortunate players, I always longed being part of an organized clan.


Hence after a couple of months I joined clan Steelmaeltrom [SMS]. Now here is a very well structured clan (maybe a little too well structured). SMS has been in existence for a long time, ever since 1996. I enjoyed playing with SMS, but the lack of attendance was still present. In order to compete you need at least 12 dedicated individuals, but even for a big clan like SMS this was an almost impossible task. A turn of events forced a lot of people to leave the T2 division of SMS, and many followed. The T2 platoon became completely inactive and is still to the present day. So after much consideration, I left the T2 division for the newly formed Jk2 platoon.


I still play almost daily and I enjoy it greatly. Yet after so many failed attempts at tribes or clans I am still attracted towards the idea of having a team, so that the game can be truly enjoyed.


Dedication, though, stands in the way. The lack of attendance among teams is huge. Yes everyone has their own private life (Editor’s Note: Not everyone, it seems), but is it so hard to commit 1 or 2 days a week to playing with your team? After all, isn't that why you join a clan?


Don't bother pretending to be a team player unless you intend on attending the practices.


It just makes me very angry when people don't show up to appointments when they told you they would. If you are a part of a team, even consisting of a few people; it hurts very much when even one person doesn't show up. In team games every member of the team counts.


The lack of dedication is the number one reason teams fail. Even weak players together can play excellent, just because they can trust each other and know the strengths and weaknesses of each individual member of the team.


I hear a lot of people talk about communication in games. Yes it is very crucial, but you can make a great team by just playing a lot together. The more you play together the more you'll learn about each other. You'll be able to trust the people you play with and make a good team. It is all about practice. So to me, in game voice, etc, is just a tool to facilitate team play and organization, but it is not a crucial aspect.


So why did I type all this up? Partly because I wanted to vent out some of the frustration I am facing in online games these days. I am just tired of seeing a lack of dedication in players, and it is limiting the enjoyment of the game. The lack of dedication is the number one obstacle I see facing online teams/tribes/clans....


I want to play as part of a team....



posted by Noman aka Pugnate at 6:35 PM



I had the same problem with clan organization. It's very hard to find dedicated players and practices are hard to organize. The best way to recruit (sadly) is to steal players from other clans. They already have the "team" mentality and will be more dedicated.
DuckFat [@] [H], 05.29.2002 , 23:00 h


I learned a similar lesson in Counter Strike.
Noman [@] [H], 05.29.2002 , 23:03 h


Jus thought I'd point out that www.planettribes.com has this article on thier front page.

Coolman is famous!
--Gandalf-- [@] [H], 05.29.2002 , 23:53 h


wow!
coolman0stress [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 01:38 h


Get a life....No No, J/K!!. Yea I read ur story and it does seem pretty messed up but if you think about it, alot of ppl are like that in REAL life; Non Dedicated, and some of them are the same ones that play videogames instead of being at karate classes or even school for that matter. It's just a matter of ppls personailties.
Robert [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 01:53 h


All clans have organization problems, the difference with our clan is most of us are real life friends. We can always talk about gameplay face to face, we get together sometimes and LAN. In my opinion, it's all about leadership by example. Every player I've known have different goals when they play the game. Some wants to be the best, some just play to relax and forget their real life issues. Knowing players' goals will determine the dedication they have for the game. Right now, our clan does not even practice, we get together 30 minutes before match and just talk about the roles were gonna play. Practice is done individually, everyone practices on their own. For as long as everyone is having fun our clan will live on. That's what keeps us together, "FUN"... [GT]In Da House!!
BoonieDog [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 02:43 h


Yes, i must agreed with you on what you have written. Without any dedication, a clan will fall/fail. I myself run a clan (Ares Damned Beast) for T2 since middle of Jan. Its great now but when we first started off, it was pretty bad at the beginning. I nearly gave up many times. But I stuck to it, divided my responsibilities with some of my active and trusty members. I mainly recruits members that are not in any other competing clans. The ones that are in many clans tend to not have much dedications. Its also important that you are strict on the attendence but not to a point where its not fun at all to be in a clan. Be ready to kick some few members from the roster. They will only be a bad influence to other members. Listen to what your member has to say and don't dictate the clan. Everyone as a voice in the clan if you wish to keep it fun. Make sure that the recruits are someone that will get along with the rest of the groups. A
Blazing Tiger [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 03:01 h


Thanks for all the great comments guys. Good to hear from T2ers! I agree with everything you guys mentioned. I know i missed out on alot of things in the article. Hope to see you guys in game!
coolman0stress [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 03:35 h


I hear you and I agree with everthing you said! But it sure sound like you had alots
of bad luck sorry
Deaths Jester [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 06:21 h


=) .. my clan runs pretty smoothly. It only consists of my two roommates and two other friends. 5 people in CS is all you need, and keeping track of people is easy.
Folk [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 08:50 h


I have to admit, you are very correct in that having a tribe that is dedicated to matches that people actually show up at is difficult. If you want to talk to a clan that has been around for a while, and still participates actively in matches, look for The Terminal Clan (-=TTC=-). The clan is a multi gaming clan, and has been around for a long time as well. The clan is very structured, with the leadership (also known as the council) making the high end decisions. I think a lot of the problems are that as new games come out, people move away from 1 particular game to another for a while. Sometimes its hard to find your niche. Especially when new players finally try the game, they find most servers filled with veterans that whoop up on em every time. I imagine that would be discouraging.
Vickster [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 10:38 h


It is good to hear from clan leaders/members and i am glad your individual clans are still up and running. It must have taken alot of dedication and interest to keep it together. It is not that personally i've had bad luck. While i was part of my own and latter SMS i did higly enjoy the game. It was just unfortunatly that they didn't work out as hoped. Dedication is something that plagues alot of activities and i only wished to express my own feelings about it.

Something i forgot to mention, i currently go by the nickname 2|coolman0stress in game. 2| is part of my name and not t2 tag. Both myself and my close friend have it, just to let people know that we play together.

Later guys, and thanks for the positive replies
coolman0stress [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 13:56 h


I agree dedication is a big factor, I'm going through the process of getting my clan restructured, only problem the task at hand is quite large since we have had so many clan member in T1 and T2, unfortunately I could not keep up with it. Most quite or and around once in awhile. One thing I think is a big factor is the clan having its own dedicated server, yes without it the clan is more disorganized, my clan jumped from 15 to 35 members (mostly active) when I had a server on a T1 line. Right now I'm in the midst of getting another server setup and getting things rolling again.
HawkofOnyx [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 14:20 h


One of the best examples of clan attendance was due to (1)a great server, (2)with good, dedicated players, (3)and clan members who joined together because they play at the same time. You can schedule practice after practice all you want, but the most successful clans have the majority of their members play at about the same time together in the same place.
kalgreenman [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 14:52 h


ATF has been around since 1997, we have multi divisions also, and curently have over 300 members. We mainly emphasize on recruiting people that we ENJOY playing with. Yes sometimes the attendance does suck, but there are still people that play a lot. Come check us out sometime. Im in the Tribes 1 division.
ATF_SINISTER [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 15:47 h


Come to the forum.. We'd like it to see some recruiters there.
Noman [@] [H], 05.30.2002 , 23:03 h


I myself had an experience such as yours Coolman. I created my own tribe in Tribes1 (D.I.D.)... course I was only 13 then so it kinda went down the drain fast (lack of participation etc...). I bought Tribes2 the day it came out and have been playing it daily since... it is still my favorite multiplayer game. I have longed to be part of a team for a long time too... one of my friends in the game (^DrAkE^) started a training tribe to really help newbies to the game and I headed it up with him. It seemed to be semi-successful at first but quickly slowed and eventually just became a huge burden. Before that I was in PNet (before it really got bigger) but had to resign due to my personal lack of participation (school really held me down) and before that I was a trainie in =PT= (Pandora Trigger)... it was an awesome tribe but since I really wasn't a true member I can't speak for why
BrEaDMAn86 [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 02:18 h


Sorry bout the cut off...

it failed. Anyways, now I'm not in any tribe and have just been pubbin for a while and I am really looking for a tribe to join (its summer now so I can dedicate myself more), course I am really looking for a tribe that will stay together and is good, but its hard to really get in on those kind of tribes when everyone that you have been friends with in the past has already left the game. I kinda feel like I'm just one of those old people that none of the newer guys know, so consequently I don't have the element of knowing the right people to get into certain tribes. Oh well, enough rambling from me. I know how you feel and I'm sure many other people do too.
BrEaDMAn86 [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 02:23 h


I run the United Storm Guard (USG) tribe, and we were competitive for a while but now we only have 3-5 players of the dependable variety and we have to drop from competition for a bit to regroup and recruit.

So.....anyone want to join?
Dr Spock [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 03:02 h


The problem with clans is that people play for fun, and they don't want to have commitment. This entirely ruins it, believe me. People who join clans need to realize that they are going to have to be serious and actually show up a dates. This doesn't mean they won't have fun. But the way T2 works, is that not everybody is good at something (unless you base memberships in your clan on that skill) so people have to have some things: How will we practice base raids without our defense engineer? How will we practice bombing without our AA master? Things like these often bog down the tribes of Tribes (2). Well, as a completely dedicated gamer, I must resent to say that I do not have a schedule either. Things happen, I don't keep very good organization of my life. But do we want lawyers in our Shrike cockpits? No! (No offense to you lawyers)I'm sure it's possible that the average T2 gamer can hol
Sniper Red (Active T2er) [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 07:20 h


-d a clan. But they need to have a sense of duty about it.
Sniper Red (Continued) [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 07:25 h


I agree with you coolman0stress, I have been playing tribe since the first one come out and have joined many tribes but none seems to last. I really just enjoy playing with ppl I know as a team or against but It hard to find servers that have players that just what to have fun.That the whole point of a clan is just a group of ppl that enjoying playing.

DraG
DraG [@] [H], 05.31.2002 , 21:04 h


I agree too..
We enconounter the same probs in =STC=. We have our own server but sometimes we ahve probs to full it.
I will also says that we can stay togheter , because most of us have the same age ,...round 38
Fredur [@] [H], 06.03.2002 , 04:04 h


Hey Man it happens what can I say.. I play for Tribe Matrix if u are into TWL competition you may or may not have heard of us, but when we started out we were in the same deal as what you ran into. We were a bottom rung team with players that didn't want to play to compete.. but wanted to play for fun. Over time we found new talent in random servers some people stayed, some people didn't last very long at all. We tried to practice at least once or twice before matches, but attendance wasn't there, and even after you get the attendance you are looking for, what do you do with the time? It took us a while to get that all figured out and get everyone to cooperate. Over time we gathered members from other teams that were looking for a new home or interested and we started to practice more, and even more important that practice, scrimmage more. A year later we are a fairly top rung team with a good amount of players. My
{Mx}NeoMatrix [@] [H], 06.03.2002 , 05:18 h


And yeh I just got owned by comments.. cause I typed more.. anyway.. I wanted to add that there is a fairly large Tribes 2 community out there... resident in irc2.dynamix.com where teams have their own chat rooms, TSN, WSBN, and other online broadcasting networks have their own rooms and do shoutcasts of matches. And now Tribes 2 TV is starting to kick up and come to life which actually lets u watch matches. Point being if you want in a team get into the community a bit. L8er
{Mx}NeoMatrix [@] [H], 06.03.2002 , 05:21 h


And yeh I just got owned by comments.. cause I typed more.. anyway.. I wanted to add that there is a fairly large Tribes 2 community out there... resident in irc2.dynamix.com where teams have their own chat rooms, TSN, WSBN, and other online broadcasting networks have their own rooms and do shoutcasts of matches. And now Tribes 2 TV is starting to kick up and come to life which actually lets u watch matches. Point being if you want in a team get into the community a bit. L8er
{Mx}NeoMatrix [@] [H], 06.03.2002 , 05:22 h

 

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