Clan etiquette

[bridget mobyvixen]

So, having founded a new clan in January, and having fun with it as well, I am looking to get some advice on a couple aspects of "clan management" if you will.

We have followed some rough rule of thumb guidelines on recruiting new clan members which we have seen on this forum so we can grow our numbers since we are small and it would be nice to rank up. As many probably know, and as myself and the other leaders of my clan are learning, you don't know who you are getting when you invite strangers to your clan.

How do others deal with challenging clan members?

One example might be that we get a member who is very demanding of other members and the leaders of the clan. Let's call them the "give me" players...they want free stuff and they want it now; they don't say "Thanks!" when you give them stuff or spend 30 minutes of your time helping them learn the mechanics of the game. They just seem to want more. We worry about them even chasing off other members since they shout their demands into their microphone on the clan channel for anybody that might be listening ignoring suggestions to private chat or group chat whoever they are directing their questions to.

I appreciate thoughts on this. I like to take the "nice" approach but am willing to be firm if that is what it will take. I realize there are plenty of rude people in the MMO world but from much of this forum discussion I sort of forgot since most of you are not those people. **sigh**

Thanks for your time!
Bridget

[Dixie Cougar]

We had one of these types in our clan a while back. I was half a mind to boot him but he kind of faded away after people stopped helping him and my wife chewed him out for being rude.

Once you get a decent number of members you may want to start talking to candidates in more depth before inviting and maybe run them through a coop or a daily conflict site. In other words be a little more selective.

[bridget mobyvixen]

We had one of these types in our clan a while back. I was half a mind to boot him but he kind of faded away after people stopped helping him and my wife chewed him out for being rude.

Once you get a decent number of members you may want to start talking to candidates in more depth before inviting and maybe run them through a coop or a daily conflict site. In other words be a little more selective.

I like your wife already. :-)

We are going to start being a little more selective since we don't want somebody to chase off other clan members or just ruin somebody else's experience in the game. I like the suggestion to group up and do like a trial run with coop or conflict sites to see if they will mesh. We have teamed with a few people who we really like in our clan and would hate for them to get a bad taste in their mouth from another clan member.

Thanks for the response!

Bridget

[Dixie Cougar]

(Had to tap that last post on my phone so the thought was incomplete)

I'm bad cop and she's good cop, but when she decides to switch places with me she goes all out, haha. Sometimes I feel like the stereotypical school vice principal... if you get sent from there to the principal's office then you've REALLY stepped in it.

I've waffled back and forth but at the end of the day the hard line seems to be the best one. As you say, it's not worth tolerating one jagoff due to the risk of alienating everyone else. That being said it's worth warning a problem person at least once, sometimes they don't realize how annoying their behavior is and will try to fix it.

Note as well that people who cause trouble internally are likely to also do so externally, ie get into brawls in zone, spam BMGs, play baseball at the Monolith, etc. which can embarrass the clan.

As for VOIP, we use Teamspeak and shut off ingame voip completely. Much easier to manage that way. If you're on a console platform then things may be a little harder.

[cyguy]

One of the biggest things was the whole "be polite and respectful to other clannies" thing. Every clan runs across rude, or overly demanding people on occasion. In order to keep our clan casual and free of the hostility we usually would tell people to watch their mouth just once, and then kicked them. Usually you'd have to put a stop to the rude behavior immediately with kicking that person before the hostility spreads. In the end, its a game that people want to come on and play for fun. No one wants to deal with any more drama then they already do.

[bridget mobyvixen]

(Had to tap that last post on my phone so the thought was incomplete)

I'm bad cop and she's good cop, but when she decides to switch places with me she goes all out, haha.

I've waffled back and forth but at the end of the day the hard line seems to be the best one. As you say, it's not worth tolerating one jagoff due to the risk of alienating everyone else. That being said it's worth warning a problem person at least once, sometimes they don't realize how annoying their behavior is and will try to fix it.

Note as well that people who cause trouble internally are likely to also do so externally, ie get into brawls in zone, spam BMGs, play baseball at the Monolith, etc. which can embarrass the clan.

As for VOIP, we use Teamspeak and shut off ingame voip completely. Much easier to manage that way. If you're on a console platform then things may be a little harder.

I like to monitor the clan channel in case somebody does have a question and maybe a new player is not real familiar with how to use all the channels (since many things are not real obvious in this game) then we can create a private or group chat and go from there. I figure I will monitor and probably have to scold if it continues...like the clan "mommy", but I guess somebody probably has to do that at times.

We are not a big clan so it seems like we shouldn't have a right to be that selective but I did not see this coming so now I am rethinking that whole open door policy thing.

Thanks for completing the thought!

Bridget

[pdg]

I'm in need of a clan and yours sounds good as you remove the problem people. How do I reach out to you in game? And you can interview me all you like but the run down is this: played at launch for a few months, stopped for over a year, and I have recently come back into the game and wondering why I ever left.

Oh, and to be on topic: In guilds I've run in other games, I give such people one stiff warning and if they don't behave I show them the door in no uncertain terms.

[bridget mobyvixen]

One of the biggest things was the whole "be polite and respectful to other clannies" thing. Every clan runs across rude, or overly demanding people on occasion. In order to keep our clan casual and free of the hostility we usually would tell people to watch their mouth just once, and then kicked them. Usually you'd have to put a stop to the rude behavior immediately with kicking that person before the hostility spreads. In the end, its a game that people want to come on and play for fun. No one wants to deal with any more drama then they already do.

I totally agree...I enjoy killing some mutants after an annoying day at work and don't need somebody shouting their demands through my speakers while I try to let out some stress. :-) I like the clan and guild idea but forget how some people take advantage of their anonymity with online games and social media. Makes me sad...

[Thad Castle]

[QUOTE=Dixie Cougar;1709400](Had to tap that last post on my phone so the thought was incomplete)

That being said it's worth warning a problem person at least once, sometimes they don't realize how annoying their behavior is and will try to fix it.

That's the best thing to do, You just warn them and tell them what they are doing wrong. If they change their behavior then great you can keep them in the clan, if not then you let them know why they are being kicked from the clan and then kick them. It may not feel like you're being nice but at least you tried to give them a second chance.

[bridget mobyvixen]

I'm in need of a clan and yours sounds good as you remove the problem people. How do I reach out to you in game? And you can interview me all you like but the run down is this: played at launch for a few months, stopped for over a year, and I have recently come back into the game and wondering why I ever left.

Oh, and to be on topic: In guilds I've run in other games, I give such people one stiff warning and if they don't behave I show them the door in no uncertain terms.

Hi pdg,

Are you PS3? NA? that is us...clan thread is in the signature...heck that is all my signature is since I am sort of lazy on that front. :-) PSN info for friend requests is in the thread for all three clan leaders...drop us a line and we can do a "trial" to see if we all mesh if you like.

Look forward to seeing you in the game and welcome back!

Bridget