GamerSpeak:

Clans and Community

We recently posed the following question in the forums: Do you think gaming clans foster community or dissent? Are you part of a clan? Tell us why or why not. How do you feel about clan vs. clan rivalry ... is it competitive fun or does it go too far?

Here's what some of our Xbox.com forum members had to say:

As a former clan member I would have to say clans are not a good part of the community. Clan battles always end up with people complaining in the lobby after the game has ended. So and so cheated, so and so camped, the list goes on and on. In my opinion there are too many clans on Xbox Live®. I like playing online for fun and sometimes competition but some clans take things real seriously.

Wyoming Outlaw
Cody, Wyoming

Clans definitely have their place as they offer an outlet for organized and competitive play. However, every experience I have had with clan players in a match or ranked matches per se has been negative. The commentary ranges from basic expletives, which do not bother me, to extreme racism, which is wrong in any shape or form.

There may be some good clans mixed in there somewhere but overall (in my experience) they have dragged the gaming style or matches down for the Average Joe who just wants to play the game.

s3v3n N s3v3n
Atlanta, Georgia

I think clans are both good and bad for gaming. Good, in that it fosters great competition, with clan vs. clan matches. It's always fun to see two clans battle to find out who has the best skills. I think they're bad because clan members usually mock non-clan members, and also ignore them as well. It makes it tough to find games in Xbox Live sometimes when you get kicked from rooms because clan members are hosting them and have an elitist attitude. If people in clans had a better attitude towards others, I think it would work out for the best. But as it is now, I feel it leans more towards a bad thing than good.

drunk pandas
Saratoga Springs, New York

In general they are not good for a community because they factionalize and splinter the populace into different segments that tend to only play with one another. So most often, instead of adding anything to a community, they are simply removing people from it.

Yozoo
Richmond, Virginia

I think clans are somewhat of a double-edged sword. In theory the only way you can really hit the upper levels of video game mastery in teamwork-based games is to have a clan. There is a major problem that clans create in games that have no official organization. What happens is you get clan servers that feed off the benefits of being a team, while random people get tossed into the mix against them. There is alot of bad clans out there that seem to only use the clan set up as an excuse to have an unfair advantage over other gamers. They would, of course, rationalize their ability to gather a team as being a skill, but it is hard to take that at face value when they aren't directly competing against other clans, but instead setting up camp in servers to trap random noobies.

The clan setup on the consoles seems to be far from being an enlightening experience, but hopefully with developers like Bungie trying to create games that embrace teamwork and better clan options, we will eventually see more gamers joining clans for positive reasons.

lunatic core
Las Vegas, Nevada

I think clans are overwhelmingly positive for the community. I see little detractions to their presence. Like any other group, clans are what their members make them. Some are social groups around for the pleasure of each other's company while others are cut-throat competitive. Either aspect would be found in the community as individuals anyway. Thus far I have seen virtually nothing in the form of clan activity on the Xbox 360™. I expect this to change as new releases better suited for clan matchplay hit the market.

I am a member of Demonic Nitebreed and have been since nearly the start of Xbox Live. The experience has been nothing but positive. Rivalries do nothing but make gaming interesting.

Sirharper
Cincinnati, Ohio

Only one word can really define an online clan, friendship. Obviously there are many clans out there in the world today and every clan seeks or focuses on something different in the online community. Whether it is first place on top of the leaderboards, execution on the field, strategic planning, or just plain fun, we all want one thing, friendship. Clans are a sense of belonging-ness, a place to go to get away from your worries. I have been a CPT in The Rat Patrol for little over two years now and I have met some of the greatest people on this planet. To me, it's about the friendships I make online.  

Wuz Ranger
Omaha, Nebraska

Clans are great. The adrenaline rush of being the last one left is amazing. The rivalries are cool because you want to be better than your rivals so you practice much more. Clans really increase the replay value of any game. I am in a clan right now and it's just fun. I am in one because sometimes playing player matches is boring and clans make the game more interesting. There should be clan dash in the dashboard. Clans are great. Everyone should be in a clan.

ISsI Contender
The Bronx, New York

Clans arethe things that can keep a game goingeven aftercompleting single player and such. But ifonlineis executed correctly, it could sell the game for that purpose alone*cough* Halo® 2 *cough*.

Game developers should bring online clans into their major priorities; it can separate good games from bad games from even great games.

HyeWarrior
San Dimas, California

Clan support for Xbox 360 is needed, and can really make the community stronger. Tournaments, leaderboards, and stats for a start. Think of the possibilities of being able to win prizes, or just respect from other clans.

DaKing240
FloridaState University

I think clans are great for the Xbox Live community. I have been a member of Baptized By Fire or BBF clan for just over a year now. Some of the people I have meet in my clan I now consider to be close friends. If I had not joined a clan I would not have met any of the great people that I meet in my clan and from other clans. I wish that there were a better and easier way for clans to be able to compete in Xbox 360 games as well as having an additional list that could be kept as part of the friends list where clan members would be listed and new members could be added.

BBF OC
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

Many people think that if you get 3 friends together and call yourself something that you have a clan. In my opinion that is not a clan. A clan has a leadership structure of some sort and has a ranking system.

One good thing about clans is that it provides a good place to train. Whether clans are fun or serious, clans can help you improve your game.

BRASSMONKEY69
Fresno, California