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| 20 Jul 2017 11:39 AM |
DISCLAIMER
NOT A THREAD THAT AIMS TO PROVIDE A SINGULAR OR PERMANENT SOLUTION
IS A THREAD TO FACILITATE SERIOUS THINKING (but if you aren't going to keep on topic or be serious then thank you and the bots for giving this thread more views)
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I'm going to cut the whole "hey let's talk about the clan world dying like we did the past 999999 times to no avail" part.
Instead of trying to be "smart" (aka repeating the obvious and proposing vague solutions to it i.e. to boost activity let's VIP recruit again), I'm going to be giving some tips on how NOT to make clans worse.
This isn't a guarantee that clans will be better, but it'll at least eliminate some factors from sources that will DEFINITELY make clans worse.
This thread is also meant for your contribution to this list so if you can do that it'd be appreciated.
Let's start now with the list of tips for someone that is LEADING a clan.
1. Please STOP using the same damn generic descriptions and lores.
I swear that every new modern or sci fi clan, including "sword clans' have this as their description:
"We are mighty warriors hailing from x planet that have been broken due to either a. Civil war or tension or b. Dissension or acrimony from an unstated foreign clan. But now we are here to avenge our past and become better and become united!"
If you look at 90% of all sword and gun clans that are newer, this is literally the exact description they use with their own modifications. It is NEVER UNIQUE, it DOES NOT PROMOTE ROLEPLAY WHATSOEVER, and it is COMPLETELY USELESS unless this lore defines the clan through it's ranks/places/uniforms/ all of that, in which never happens.
SOLUTION: Don't use this generic template as your lore and instead sit down and come up with something more unique. Create a backstory for your clan. But be aware of how complex you make it because the more detailed it is the more you may have to develop in order to align yourself with your own lore.
2. If you want to BOOST activity, VIP recuiting/spam messages/ads are not going to bring in quality members.
Nobody cares about how many thousands of members your clan can get if most of them don't even know what to do.
The reason why groups focused on Star Wars/ GoT / City roleplay are more successful than generic "war" clans is because they have a set theme that is FAMILIAR and APPEALS to a younger demographic.
Think about it. People recognize Star Wars and GoT because they have such a huge fanbase on the web, so there are definitely people playing ROBLOX who can dedicate time to those clans because they have some foundation (whether it be canon or something else) to go off of.
Clans like Edeltia and Robine have Cities. Notice how some of ROBLOX's biggest front page games are based on cities or community roleplay. All those ROBLOX High Schools, all of that. No wonder the activity spike is in city clans, because that's what newer players are most familiar with.
If you WANT to actually have good trafficking of members instead of a bunch of alts and bots, you either need to make your lore/background recognizable or make elements of your clan similar to what is "popular" right now. Like Jailbreak or Murder Mystery and all that.
3. Nobody cares about development until IT IS DONE AND WE CAN SEE IT.
Posting your progress of how much you've developed and what is done is not going to help your clan "release" when the members want to.
When members come into clans, they expect a fluid system already in place. While there are those who would take the risk of joining an undeveloped clan, I doubt that you'll get a great activity drive just because you said you finished a rally place.
Truth is, technology matters less to people than the actual lore and community itself.
The past few years, there were some really great clans in dev with potential to release and become successful. But that never happened; and one of the larger reasons is that the devs did not have anyone to show their tech and bases and weapons and all that.
When your clan releases or has a grand opening, people are going to see that you've actually managed to start up a clan and can keep it running. This largely has to do with the competency of your HICOM and how well you've developed lore and all that aforementioned.
Sure, you can attract some interest by showing "sneak peeks" of your awesome tech months ahead of release, but are people really going to care if you end up shutting down?
Lesson here is that tech matters LESS than developing internal infrastructure.
4. Stop creating a new set of rules thread for your clan, and just make a universal one.
Although clans can vary based on discipline, I see the same rules in pretty much every codex or directory out there:
-Respect everyone -Don't be dumb and use common sense -Behave appropriately -Call higher ranks their appropriate honorifics -Get Merely's Group Enhancer/ROBLOX+ and be active.
It's really not that different. Every single clan shares some of those elements and it's a waste just trying to create a brand new one, when we can all collaborate on a universal set of clan codes and make our personal adjustments from there.
While I'm at it, I'd also like to say that have an entrance obby does absolutely no good for your clan. Obbies can be reserved more for trainings. I don't see the point of people hopping block to block and typing answers in to open up a wall. If you're trying to see that they read your rules, then it's not very effective because most of the answers could be guessed, or a quick CTRL+F would do.
I'm out of ideas right now but feel free to add on your own tips below.
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| 20 Jul 2017 11:42 AM |
i like #3 and #4 in particular
a good amount of having a decent clan is common sense and i think you highlighted this well along with drawing good parallels to the demographic that roblox attracts |
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| 20 Jul 2017 11:51 AM |
Just thought of another one.
5. DIVISIONS DON'T MATTER UNTIL AFTER YOUR CLAN IS RUNNING WELL.
By introducing divisions during the early dev phase, you are not only wasting 100 Robux on creating an extra group but you also encourage possible corruption and elitist social groups within your clan. Which I believe we all know isn't always good.
The only exception to this is perhaps groups that give small perks at say, cities. Like Edeltia's various divisions.
(Off topic note: But those divisions shouldn't receive special weapons at bases unless raiders could have access to the same weapons or counterparts)
I mean, sure, it's nice to have a cool little elite division you can use for scrims and stuff. Although, in my opinion, you should just create an entirely different group for that because scrims shouldn't define the main clan, but whatever.
If you want to include the average member into your raids, and not DISCOURAGE them from leaving, and NOT ENCOURAGE them to leave thanks to toxicity from elitists...
...then you would just NOT create an elite division in the first place. You don't segregate members when it comes time to choosing who to raid. You won't be able to identify or remember who is a better fighter every single rally and so you'll be forced to call upon average members, which gives them more experience and helps your clan as a whole INSTEAD of being overly reliant on your special little division.
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mcclos
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| Joined: 22 Mar 2013 |
| Total Posts: 7344 |
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jltom
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| Joined: 04 Jul 2010 |
| Total Posts: 34279 |
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| 20 Jul 2017 11:55 AM |
thank you, this is really good actually
1 - you want your clan to be eyecatching, generic descripts willn't do that
2 - good too, edeltia really takes advantage of the popularity of city games so they make their base a city; people from roblox high school aren't going to care about a sword clan
3 - no one cares if your clan is indev, we care when it is actually open
4 - rules should be common sense, you're not going to get promoted for behaving inappropriately
chicken nuggets |
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jltom
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| Joined: 04 Jul 2010 |
| Total Posts: 34279 |
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| 20 Jul 2017 11:56 AM |
"DIVISIONS DON'T MATTER UNTIL AFTER YOUR CLAN IS RUNNING WELL"
yo, you're my new best friend
why are people creating 10 divisions when there's only 5 members in your clan start with the main group and then work your way up some divisions once you're good to go
chicken nuggets |
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| 20 Jul 2017 11:58 AM |
Exactly jltom.
Also if you guys have anything to add then please do, this is what threads are supposed to be for
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| 20 Jul 2017 12:03 PM |
Does Merely's Group Enhancer work?
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| 20 Jul 2017 12:04 PM |
I don't think the group shout feature works for Merely's anymore @Sofah
I just use it alongside ROBLOX+'s shout because I dislike ROBLOX+'s font size for showing ranks under usernames on the wall. Merely's looks better for me.
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| 20 Jul 2017 12:17 PM |
| don't love it to much its bots. |
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| 20 Jul 2017 12:22 PM |
I know I said it in my original post
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| 20 Jul 2017 12:53 PM |
I remember seeing a similar thread to this yesterday. Going to go through it and see how much of it i'm doing/can avoid with my group, as well as comment on the points you've provided here.
1) You're absolutely right. Most clans nowadays don't even bother to implement some kind of lore - and if they do, it usually tends to be exactly what you just described. The only exceptions to this I can think of in my head right now are TSU and WIJ. I personally only just fall short of this - though i'm still dangerously close (Lore doesn't encourage a lot of roleplay, which i'll definitely change - thanks for the advice. In hindsight though, it's probably almost just that. It's an amalgamation of a civil war/tension caused by a (stated, though) foreign clan, and luckily it does have a heavy influence on the group places - though not the uniform or ranks). Maybe i'll do lore-related seasonal events every once in a while. Thanks for the advice! That's a good point.
2) Agreed. VIP recruiting usually brings about people locked in safe chat who can't communicate in any way. Clans with roleplay/cities as an integral part of their infrastructure always seem to fare well. It's actually a really good idea, and I think i'll try to make the lore in my group have a much heavier influence on how it functions. I always thought of producing a "city"-like area (not really a city due to technicalities) to encourage group activity. I think i'll get started on that very soon, again, thanks for the advice.
3) THIS. THIS, SO MUCH. I cannot count the amount of clans that have said they're "in-dev" and show random percentages with no evidence to back them up whatsoever. If you don't have the goods ready, don't tease them and encourage people to join your group. Though I unfortunately fall short of being on the positive side of this - though I haven't encouraged people to join my group (by "opening" it), I fear that the finished places will. I haven't amassed a HICOM, I probably released the places way too early. But I do completely agree with your point that infrastructure matters far more than clan technology - in hindsight, I wish I would've worked on infrastructure first then technology. I highly encourage everyone to first work on their leadership/infrastructure, THEN the technology regardless of their resources. It'll definitely make opening a lot easier.
4) Interesting point, but it's going to be nigh impossible to convince most clans to conform to a universal rulebook due to the many technicalities involved. What if a clan has rules about the roleplay (though that would be counterproductive most of the time)? What if a clan has specific rules about unorthodox facilities, such as a dueling arena? Oh, wait. Ignore my previous points. Just noticed you suggested personal adjustments, lol. I don't see how this couldn't work, then. I support it!
5) Going to disagree here, honestly. In my particular case, i'm using an entrance obby to filter out spam accounts (though i've taken away answering blocks and made it indescribably easy), and lessen the possibility of people joining the group on old alts to mess about - though once they get the badge, they're automatically given the permissions to visit the rest of the places.
All in all, you've raised some really good points - and awakened me a bit, lol. I'll definitely be working on what you've said. Thanks for the solid advice. |
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| 20 Jul 2017 03:44 PM |
| Need people to give more tips |
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Darazkil
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| Joined: 15 Jun 2017 |
| Total Posts: 201 |
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| 20 Jul 2017 07:08 PM |
| This is honestly pretty good advice, if I ever wind up making another war clan (other than SW ones) I'll try to follow this. |
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Rezoic
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| Joined: 06 Mar 2016 |
| Total Posts: 638 |
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| 22 Jul 2017 12:52 AM |
Don't agree with the one over becoming like popular games. Games get popular because they are unique. FEAR's fort to this day still gets people because of how unique its system is.
In order for clans to survive, they just need to keep testing unique forts like in the past, and maybe have traditional elements like walls and obbies on top of that.
Also, #4- some clans need advanced rules. This is why I make "guidelines" in the sense that it is a "guidebook" such as those seen in ROTC (which are called 'Cadet Guides'). This way, it's not just biting old rules. It's your common ende rules plus everything you need to know for promotions, etc.
This works for my clans because they are normally atypical in promotion statuses and lore. For other clans though, a normal, basic rule set might work out fine. |
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| 22 Jul 2017 12:55 AM |
support
| : The Renegade has Arrived |
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