Clan Psychology

On this week's BASH: Episode 11, we talk about Call of Duty clans. And we ask the following questions:

What are they?

Why do we want to belong to them?

How do you create one that will not only attract fun players but will stay together for some time?

On line gamers tend to organize themselves into groups of like-minded individuals to play their chosen game and more importantly to socialize. Typically, these groups start suddenly and end just as fast. These groups are known as clans.

Popular opinion seems to dictate that computer gaming is an anti-social behavior conducted by lonely people madly tapping commands on their keyboard all the while sitting in a darkened room in front of a glowing screen; however, human beings are social animals by nature and playing in massively multiplayer games with other individuals is a very human thing to do. Wanting to play with other players is therefore a natural impulse and it should not be a surprise that people would want to join a clan.

As I mentioned, clans form suddenly and don't last very long. There are many reasons for this short life span, not the least of which is the fact that some of these clans are single-game clans and people get bored of the game.

The key is to discover the secret that some of the more successful longer-lived gaming clans have found.

Clan members typically meet either in their own specialized game servers and use text chat or voice communications to socialize or through forum postings on clan websites. Both servers and the websites can be considered what are called third places. A third place is a special term used by sociologists.

Let's take your home, for example. It can be described as a first place. A first place is a location where you can relax and be comfortable.

The so called second place is where you normally are when you aren't home. For example, work. Unless you are self employed and work from your home-office, a great deal of social interaction can happen at work, but usually these spaces don't allow you to relax and be comfortable.

A third place is somewhere other than work or home where you can both relax and socialize. A bar, a coffeeshop, Community Centers, General Stores, hangouts, sports clubs... you get the idea. It's a place where the best of both work and home come together.

There is an excellent description of what the main characteristics are for a so called "third place" in an article called "Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name:Online Games as "Third Places", by Constance Steinkuehler:

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/steinkuehler.html

The article suggests that the most successful clans create these "third places". I will read you the characteristics of these third places from this article and then I'll try to give suggestions on how to apply them to your clan.

Here are the characteristics:

1. Neutral Ground

Third places are neutral grounds where individuals are
free to come and go as they please with little obligation or entanglements with
other participants.

The key here is the phrase "little obligation or entanglements with other participants". Put another way. People who come to play on your server don't want to play head games or get hassled. The no B.S. rule must apply.

How many clans disintegrate because members forget this rule.

People come on line to forget the hassles they have in real life. The last thing
most of us want is to deal with headcases.

2. Leveler

Third places are spaces in which an individuals rank and status in the workplace or society at large are of no import. Acceptance and participation is not contingent on any prerequisites, requirements, roles, duties, or proof of membership. This statement suggests that people who want to socialize, and that's what gaming online is all about, want an environment without the importance of status. This is really interesting because there are quite a few clans that take organization to a very high level and even emulate both the structure and name of military units with ranks and positions.

I should also point out that most of these clans have not celebrated their second anniversary, which suggests that clans organized to stress rank and importance don't last very long. Why would rank and status cause problems in a clan? One word. Jealousy. It's human nature. Give someone seniority or power over someone else and you will not find the place a nice place to come to and relax. It sounds like what most people's workplace is like, doesn't it?

In the Devil-Dogz clan, we do not raise any one's stature above anyone else and interestingly that fact is cited by many of our new members as one of the reasons why they join. There are many examples of defunct clans on the Internet that blew up because their membership started to splinter into separate elitist groups and it split their clan. Sometimes it's inevitable that the better players in a clan will want to group together to form a sub-group or an elite team for the purpose of say, playing in competitive scrimmages.

These players will find it irresistible to add an elite tag to their gaming names.
I can tell you that as soon as you see these elitist symbols next to their names...you can start the countdown clock to that clan's destruction. It will implode because of jealousy and it is very important for any clan leader to stamp out any attempt at clan segregation.

3. Conversation is the Main Activity

In so called third places, conversation is a main focus of activity in which playfulness and wit are collectively valued. Again, we are talking about playfulness here and humor.

Wit is not about harassing players or calling people hurtful names. The best wit is humble. It pokes fun at yourself not other players. Humility will allow your teammates to be encouraging and create a family atmosphere. When you populate a clan with Type A personalities who all consider themselves uberowners you will find that there will be very little playfulness. Ego gets in the way. The successful clan will
try to defuse conflict due to ego.

Ways to encourage playfulness is by having a very large humor section on your webpage. The clan leader should lend a hand here by fostering a playful atmosphere. De-emphasize scoring in normal clan gameplay. Emphasize teamplay instead.
Try not to create competition between clan members. Competitive juices should be applied to clan on clan scrimmages not to recreational intraclan battles.

4. Accessibility & Accommodation

Third places must be easy to access and are accommodating to those who frequent them. Servers should allow players to log on and off at will and activity should be allowed 24 hours - seven.occurs throughout all hours of the day. I have seen some admins actually shutting their servers down during the day. This makes access limited and you compromise the reliability your server should provide.

The server should be free. Support to the administrator should be provided voluntarily and passwords should be avoided.

5. The Regulars

Third places include a cadre of regulars who attract newcomers and give the space its characteristic mood. Hopefully you will have a group of fun, mature and responsible clan regulars who hang out on your server and provide this mood throughout the day and the week.

The last thing a clan leader would want are irritating or irresponsible regulars because those are the people a new player will most likely meet when they come to the server.

In essence you want regulars who are a cross between traffic cops, WalMart greeters and teachers.

6. A Low Profile

Third places are characteristically homely and without pretension. Any clan that tries to project a superior attitude will simply attract people with the same attitude.

Please note that this does not in any way suggest that the people you will attract ARE superior. Just the opposite. These people simple CONSIDER themselves superior. Deep down they are probably very insecure and are attracted to a clan that puts on airs in order to compensate for their own lack of confidence. You definitely do not want to attract a large number of insecure players. These folks typically have fragile egos and will create a great deal of emotional disturbance.

7. The Mood is Playful

The general mood in third places is playful and marked by frivolity, verbal word play, and wit. You want to encourage players to crack jokes during heated battles, perform goofy actions and lighten the mood when things get tense. Try to get people to have funny avatars that mock their appearance. Players should not be too serious
about their gaming.

8. A Home Away from Home

Third places are home-like that is they give you a sense that you are rooted in something that will last, you have a feeling of possession, it gives you a feeling of spiritual rebirth, and you develop feelings of being at ease, and warmth. If they atmosphere in the clan changes from this home-like feeling to one that is very serious and puts a great deal of emphasis on competition you deviate from the concept of the clan and server as a third place. It becomes more and more like work. The end result is that while this may be desirable amongst a few of the members, you will find that the clan will not grow. New members will be difficult to find because the clan is not a home away from home. It is simply a place to come and compete.