It is 5 years old. If anyone can find the article I would be willing to host it. Might be good to remove this sticky if it cannot be found though.
New Clan Guide
Date: 01.05.2007
Author: Lekky
Ok, so i thought i could make a basic guide for new clans entering the game of Paintball, basically giving the fundamental information any clan in this game should need.
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The first thing to consider when starting a new clan is whether you should actually start one! If you are a new player, you should probably not be thinking about playing with any clans for the moment until you up your skill level by doing things such as playing pubs, or if you're lucky asking a nice experienced player for some tips and techniques.
Another case in which you probably shouldn't be thinking about starting a new clan is if you have never joined a clan before, this guide can only go so far in guiding new clans, but if you spend some time in a well run clan that my friend, is priceless.
If you belong to any of the above, but would like some more basic information on how to integrate into the community, please look here.
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So, now we have filtered out those people that shouldn't be starting new clans, lets move onto the first step in clan creation and management.
You should have some idea of who will be on the starting member list of your clan, it is a much easier process if 2+ people start a clan rather than one. This way resources can be pooled and discussion take place to ensure thateverything that is done, is done well.
Ok, so every clan should have the following:
1. An original name.
The importance of this cannot be underestimated, if you pick a name that a thousand clans have held before people will find it tougher to take you seriously. Pick a unique, original and clever name (together with a funky looking tag) and you are on the first step to making your clan.
2. An irc presence.
The whole Paintball 2 Matching Community revolves around irc, it is imperitive that you create a channel and inform people of it in order to get matches, members and recognition. When i say inform people about it I DO NOT mean constant /amsg spamming, this has the opposite effect and will irritate people more than you want.
The Paintball 2 community can be found on the GlobalGamersCenter Server. To connect you first need an irc client, there are a number on the web but as this is not an irc guide, i will simply post a link to the most well-known Mirc. You can download Mirc here. Once downloaded you can join the server by typing the following into any input box:
/server irc.globalgamerscenter.net
The community can be found by typing /join #paintball into the same box once connected.
To create your own channel think of a name, the accepted naming convention is #team_[yourNameHere], for example #team_qehs or #team _cc. However this is no hard and fast rule, and many clans simply have their name as the channel name eg. #ch1ll and #20ID
so join your channel by typing /join #myChannel then once inside (if the channel is not already owned) type:
/msg ChanServ REGISTER #myChannel
(Further GlobalGamersCenter help/support can be found here)
Now finally you need to create a topic that shows your clan name and record, and fill your members list. You can ask questions on irc or follow the GGC support link for further information on anything to do with irc.
3. A website.
Not all clans have a website, but it is better to have one, than not to have one. However, if you do create a website you must ensure it has a respectable design and not mocked up in 2 minutes. In this case it is better NOT to have a website at all. So if you do choose to have one, please spend some time and effort to make it respectable. There are a number of content management systems designed specifically for gaming clans, and these can make designing and maintaining a website infinetly easier. The following are a select few you may decide to use:
VWar
WebSpell
ProClanManager "Pro Clan Manager has been dropped for many years"
devilz Clanportal
*Note you will need some webhosting that offers a Database to take advantage of the above content management systems.
Clans.Net Redirects to gametracker.
4. Communication Median
To match effectively you will need the use of a voice communication system. The most popular are ventrilio and Teamspeak2. These allow you and your team to talk to each other and recon during matches, something that all top clans do, and is vital if you wish to be competitive.
You can create your own instance of a server and let your teammates connect to you as and when it is needed, however this may cause you to lag and it is best to rent one of these servers from one of the multitude of providers on the internet. You can start your research into the best one by typing "rent teampseak server" into google.
Some of the current clans will let you use their teamspeak servers for free so you have no excuses! You can connect by downloading the Teampseak2 client here and connecting to the following ip's:
[QeHs] - 195.74.52.108:8705
Ch1ll - 89.110.145.254:9999
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Ok, so you now have a unique and original name, together with a kick ass website, irc channel and teamspeak server, you have the basics of what is needed to run and maintain your new clan. But don't go just yet, the following could help you to keep your clan up and running.
Members
One mistake many new clans are suspect to is recruiting everyone and anyone. This is a very bad idea. To build a lasting clan you should assess every player that wants to join your clan on both skill and attitude. They need to be good enough to play in the first team, or at least provide a good challenge to those higher in the pecking order.
However it is a bad idea to recruit those players that may be disruptive or upset the balance of the team no matter how good they are. There is always a fine line between skill and attitude, and as leader it is your job to decide where that line is.
As leader you should treat your members with respect. It is better to think of a clan leader as a guide rather than a power figure, as the clans that work the best together are the ones that don't seem to have a clear leader, but act as a pure team. Therefore try to guide your clan along the right path, don't force them down it!
Matches
A match usually consists of a 4v4 contest, but many clans also advocate 3v3 contests as matches too. It is important when matching, to always try and face a clan that you know can beat you. It offers very little to always face clans that you know 100% you will win. In these matches you learn very little about your own squads quality, and rarely improve you skill levels.
The same can be said for clans you know will 100% always beat you. You might learn a bit more, but the de-moralising effect of always losing could cause the structure of your clan to collapse. A steady medium favouring clans that are better should always be your priority.
The main way of organising a match is using irc, you can set up your clan channel to send out a scrim request which populates all the other paintball2 clan channels with a notice informing them you want to match. The request to type is:
!scrim numberOfPlayers haveAServer? eg !scrim 4 yes
More information can be found in the GlobalGamersCenter support section.
It is very important that you and your clan learn a wide variety of maps. It is very easy to simply play those ones you know such as ub_cliff and airtime, whilst popular pub maps, you will rarely find a decent clan using these maps in matches. Therefore to stand a chance of winning an away map you need to be familiar with as many maps as possible.!
You can rent a match server from any of the following:
[QeHs]: Ask channel operator (@) in #team_qehs
[GT]: www.graffiti-taggerz.com/~dpaintball/index-MatchTool.shtml dead
EV1: Connect to an empty server and type: match
MeMi: www.pure-blood.de/access/register.php dead
*src
Training
Training can be an important way of learning and improving your members strengths and weaknesses, as well as allowing you to familiarise yourself with new maps and the strategy you will use when playing them. Small intra-clan scrims can also be useful when learnig new maps, giving you a match-like situation in a learning environment, you can test what might and might not work in a real match situation.
Thats all for now, if there is anything blatant I've missed or something you think I have gone wrong let me know and I'll be happy to add or change things in this guide!
Lekky
lekky@clan-qehs.co.uk
I'd delete the stuff with red beside it.
Original.
