Community Management: Clan Submissions Page

Hello everyone and welcome to April�s Clan Submissions Page! It�s been a very exciting time around RuneScape with the release of the new skill and work ongoing with the planning of this year�s Jagex Cup 2010. In this edition, we�re taking an exclusive look at the initial plans for the Jagex Cup so that we can get your feedback, because, after all, it�s a competition for you all. More information on that later in the blog. As always, we want to hear about you, your clan and what you�re doing in the community. If you have something you�d like to have added to the page in future editions then send it on through to me at postbag@jagex.com with 'Clan' in the title and I�ll see what I can do.

Mod Timbo

Not only do we like to interview some of the most interesting clans in the community, we also interview members of staff who are involved with clans or have been during their RuneScape career. This month, I caught up with Mod Mat K to talk about clans. As a lot of people already know, Daddy K was involved with the clan community before he joined Jagex and has been involved ever since - both in a personal and official sense. Now no longer working with clans, I thought I'd talk to him about his experiences, what he's learned and how he got introduced to the clan community.

Mod Timbo: How did you get introduced to the clan community from when you were playing RuneScape?

Mod Mat K: I am afraid that I have to blame my wife for that. Back in 2004, both my wife and I played RuneScape, and she joined a clan (whose name will remain secret). I came along to a few of their events and PK trips and soon after I joined too.

Mod Timbo: What was the biggest lure to you from the clan community that made you stay?

Mod Mat K: Undeniably, it is the people that you meet and play with. Every day you would see someone being passionate about the clan, whether it be a warlord telling you off for piling the wrong person, recruitment drives or someone having a personal problem and looking for a bit of support. The passion, purpose and focus of being in a clan is very addictive.

Mod Timbo: Which clans stood out to you over the years either from just talking, warring or being a part of them?

Mod Mat K: You know, I thought long and hard about this question. The easy answer would have been to say clans like Damage Incorporated, Dark Slayers or Noobs Inc - all are awesome clans - but I think that the clans that I remember the most are two clans that really stood out for me. The first is THE clan - every time I fought alongside or against them they were a good bunch of people with a great supportive mentality.

The other clan that has stood out to me is The Wilderness Guardians, not least because of His Lordship's dedication to the clan community. He has been a forerunner in the clan community ever since I can remember.

Mod Timbo: Are you still involved with a clan today?

Mod Mat K: Once you are in the clan community, you are always involved with a clan... There is no escape.

Continued further down...

Last year, we held our first large-scale competition called the Jagex Cup, which was designed to show who was the best clan in three categories: combat, skilling and a combination of the two. The competition was a great success and everyone that took part had a lot of fun with us finding out who the best three clans were:

The Titans - Combat Cup winners
Divination - Skilling Cup winners
Wicked Fury - Combination Cup winners

We took a lot of feedback from the players during the planning stages of last year�s competition that helped shape the competition and iron out a few creases with processes and rules. This is why we�re doing so again, so that your voice can be heard during the planning stages of the competition!

The full plan for the Jagex Cup 2010 can be found at this forum thread that I�ve set up in the Clan Discussion forum. If you would like to get involved with the planning, feedback and suggestions for this year�s competition, then sign in and get posting! Here is a quick list of changes made from last year to whet your appetite:

• Inclusion of sub-divisions to the Combat Cup to include a �pure� division, a P2P division and capped wars.
• A clearer system of registering your players and your clan in the competition, including live member lists of each clan.
• A new way of scoring a clan in the Skilling Cup with our �buddy skills� method.

I very much look forward to seeing your feedback and suggestions!

Mod Timbo

As a regular feature, we�ll be spotlighting a few of our clans from the community in different categories. Don�t worry if you�re clan doesn�t appear here and you think that it should; let us know via email at postbag@jagex.com with �Clan� in the subject and we�ll see what we can do.

Some of our highest-level clans:
Team TKO Blitz, Violent Resoultion and RuneScape Dinasty

Some of our oldest clans:
Wilderness Guardians, Noobs Inc and Dark Slayers

Some of our more unusual clans:
Skillers of the Round Table, The Organisation of Assassins and Friend Space

Some of our newest and upcoming clans:
TheUpside, Agony of Defeat and Ancient Slayers

Every so often, we receive a number of articles about clans through Postie Pete's electronic mailbox and it's high time that we got to share them with you all! As always, if you have something that you'd like to write about and share with the community about clans, send it to us via postbag@jagex.com with 'Clan' in the title so we can pick it out. Without any further ado, here is the article written by Ocean Azure.

About warring and having fun
Written by Ocean Azure

It seems the focal points of clans nowadays are centered around warring in attempt to gain recognition and enhance social status within the community. Motivational techniques, peer pressure and the constant reminder of clan loyalty often result in large amounts of money being spent on wars, lots of preparation, allot of passion and a general expectancy to win. Whilst the triumphant team experience feelings of joy and pride, and are congratulated for good teamwork, the defeated side experience quite the opposite. This in time leads division amongst clans and negative attitudes between them, where the losing side express their hate and disappointment through flaming/abusive language and the winning side emphasize their superiority over the other clan. This scenario does not relate to every single war that takes place, however it does accurately describe what generally does happen at most ranked wars.

What can we do to mend this? Where has the fun gone in wars? Why am I telling you this? All these questions will be answered shortly.

Oblivion has a very different approach. We want our events to bring clans together, make our own community stronger and above all - for everyone to have a good time and enjoy themselves. One of the ways we do this is by exploring fun special events that range from Scavenger Hunts to Quizzes to Costumed Clan War Battles. Each Saturday Oblivion hosts a creative, odd and unusual event. These events are extremely rare and each event will only happen once every several months or only once a year. Here is a small report of one of our special events called Furious Ninja�s vs Spartan Warriors.

On Saturday the 10th of October 2009 around 40 members of Oblivion gathered at Clan wars at 8pm. Our leader handed out the outfits (for a small fee of course). The Spartans were given swords and shields whilst the Ninja�s were given knives and claws. After un-noting them at the nearby bank, the Spartan warriors and the Furious Ninja�s formed lines and diverged into their designated clan chats. The battle began. Would the brute force of the Spartans overcome the stealth and speed of the Furious Ninja�s?

The battle saw the Spartans attacking and the Ninja�s defending. The Spartans mighty roars echoing into the distance shook the very ground beneath their feet. The Ninja�s, unfazed had formed a cunning plan. The thud of the heavy Spartan boots suddenly drew closer. "They are coming!" a ninja cried. As soon as the first Spartan warrior came into sight, the ninja�s scattered confusing the Spartans. The Ninjas then sent their strongest to the front line. The Spartans immediately attacked them. As soon as the Ninjas had the attention of several Spartans they drew them out of their ranks opening large unprotected gaps in the Spartan team. The remaining Ninjas attacked the weakened side picking of easy targets. The Ninja�s could taste victory but Spartans never give up. The Spartan leader gathered the dispersed warriors together, and they bravely fought side by side wave after wave of Ninja�s. Outnumbered 2 to 1, the Spartans managed to wipe out a large chunk of the Ninja soldiers.

But the damage was already done, the game ended and the Ninja�s won the battle. After the event the Ninja�s applauded the brave Spartans who in the end put up a brave fight. The Spartans congratulated the organized Ninjas and everyone went home. The Ninjas had one this battle, but the Spartans knew it was not over. This was only the first of many more battles to come.

That�s right, YOU! If there is anything that you would like to share with Jagex and the clan community here on the Clan Submissions page, then do let us know! The way in which you can do this is by sending us what you have, preferably as an attachment if it�s any artwork, to postbag@jagex.com, putting �Clan� in the subject somewhere. We�ll take a look at what you�ve sent us - be that clan facts, interviews, articles, artwork and much more - and then pick out what people would like to see and put it on the page. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Clan Submissions page!

To read the previous Clan Submissions page, click here.

To find out more about clans, check out our knowledge base article about them.

To see what�s happening in the clan community, check out the clan forums.

Mod Timbo: What was your most memorable moment from your time with clans?

Mod Mat K: Blimey, there are so many memories it is hard to pick just one, but, if push came to shove, it would be when I was in a friendly war with one of our allies and NI crashed, NI didn�t last long, TBH.

Mod Timbo: What sort of clanner are you? Are you a warring clanner, a skilling clanner or more of a social type?

Mod Mat K: I enjoyed the wars, but when I lead a clan I was acutely aware that not everyone wanted to fight and die (multiple times) every night. So, we used to do several events every day, from Castle Wars to skilling competitions to Fishing Trawler trips (still my favourite non-combat event). So, the tl;dr versions is: loved warring, liked everything else.

Mod Timbo: How has your knowledge of the clan world helped you in your role at Jagex? Was your knowledge a factor in getting a role within Community Management?

Mod Mat K: Actually, my move into Community Management (this was 2006) was more facilitated by me previously being a P-Mod, and I joined CM as a P-Mod curator; however, when we first started taking a more active role in the clan community, the fact I had been banging on about clans every day for two years meant I was a shoo-in. But then you know that because you were there too!

Mod Timbo: How long have you been playing RuneScape? Do you still keep in touch with your old clans?

Mod Mat K: Over six years now, five of those while I have been working here. I still keep in touch with individuals that I met in the clan community, however, many of them don�t know it is me... Spooky!

Mod Timbo: Do you remember your first war with a clan? How did it feel and did you win?

Mod Mat K: My first war was against a clan called The First Class. I don�t believe they are around anymore, though. They were primarily a New Zealand-based clan, so you can imagine the problems trying to arrange a convenient time between a mainly US/UK clan and a New Zealand one. The time zones were a nightmare. Oh, and we trounced them...and I have pics to prove that too. :p