I'd say many threads are going to be made by relatively new players trying to recruit dudes into their new Viking Conquest group.
I'd also say that most of these new VC groups are going to be modelling themselves somewhat like NW regiments.
They're going to make up arbitrary ranking systems for themselves which don't really have any purpose, and most of them are going to be anachronistic or historically inaccurate.
So I'm just making this thread so that people can talk about the initial stages of growth of this community.
I'm going to give some history and my experience of clan creation, development, and maintenance to share with noobs and vets alike. I'd like the new guys to attempt to learn fast the mistakes not to make, and encourage the old boys to ease up with their normally sarcastic attitude. Feel free to add to this thread, or make your own, veteran leaders.
We veterans want to teach these guys what does and does not work both in game and before game, so that they develop fast, and we can have a thriving and gripping competitive community.
History:
With the beta and then release of Warband there was a wave of clans formed, most of them were small, around a dozen or so guys. None of them knew what exactly they were going to do in relation to each other. This turned out to be just a few things.
Once they started doing those things, they had to learn from scratch how exactly to do them well.
NW came out much later, and the ideas of groups and units(clans) was already established, but carried out by an entirely new community. They didn't know about the tactics and ideas of small scale combat which the Warband clans had. The huge number of new players, and the strong reenactor community encouraged large and strict battles between several different groups at once.
The strict rules of these battles were unnecessary in the eyes of WB clans. Any veteran native WB group could see that any of these formations and rules simply limited the effectiveness of these NW clans. It seemed like roleplay, existing solely for atmosphere. Why must I stand here and get shot with the rest of these guys, when instead I could just go behind this hill or tree just a short distance away, and still keep contact with my unit?
In other words, this way of doing things that NW regiments developed could be fun in a different way, but it was not very competitive in that it does not take advantage of the gameplay elements competitively.
So basically the only things to do as a Warband or NW clan are:
1: Fight other clans
2: Practice for fighting other clans
3: Attend community events as a group(EG: Multiclan battles, Duel Tournaments)
4: Fight other clans in a tournament
5: Populate public servers and work together(pubstomping)
6: Make mods or maps for the game
7: Do something other than M&B as a group
I have no reason to suspect that any of these options will not be viable for a Viking Conquest group.
So let's look at what makes a clan/group/regiment fun to be in and around and part of.
Firstly, you need to do stuff. Like those things listed up there. Nobody wants to be in a group that never or rarely does anything together.
Secondly, people should not feel a need to try to 'level up' their status in the group. The atmosphere should be one which involves learning about the game from each other, and helping and improving so you can beat the other guys, or just have fun(Believe me, Mount & Blade only gets funner when you can fight stronger opponents). If people feel like they have to compete for the positions of 'power' or greater say within the group, there tends to be competition between people in the unit itself, which may result in drama.
Warning: Drama taken in large enough doses can cause the following symptoms.
Moderate to severe anal discomfort
Fractures within the communal spine(playerbase)
Cancer(Endless, pointless drama)
Most native clans have switched over to a role format, formally or informally.
What I mean by a role, is that a person is recognized by the other players in his group as doing a specific job in the group.
This can be playing a certain class better than others, or being an organizer and informing the group about when activities are going to happen as well as setting them up.
It can be being the/a founder of a group, thus having the most say over the group's direction and demeanor, and what the group's long term plan is.(whose opinion will either be respected or drama/group fracture will likely ensue)
Or it can mean being a commander(NA translation: Caller) during matches because the players are confident in your command ability.(Or because you're the first/only person to step up)
Other things, like being a modder or a duelist are not greatly necessary to a group's survival, unless they're a modding or dueling clan.
When you organize your group along a role structure, every player feels like they have a job to do, and that it is important to the group's advancement. There is no arguing over who does what because someone is either good at something or he is not. If there are few jobs to do for a role for which you have more players than you need, the most skilled player for that role will be selected when you need to win, and the less skilled player will be chosen when learning is more important.
Overlapping roles are also useful when multiple players have a skill, but few players with that skill can be present at a particular time.
So basically what I'm saying to you new guys is that none of the veteran players in native look at each other as "King" or "Knight" or "Peasant." Ranks are largely meaningless to us. We play together, and if you can do something well enough, or want to learn it, you will be probably be given more chances to do that thing in the future with the group.
This is why new players just aren't in top tier competitive clans. Because they aren't good at almost anything in comparison to the other guys in the group who have been playing for thousands of hours and have dozens of competitive matches under their belt.
New players need to join new groups. They then need to learn from the skilled players and groups so they can catch up, and try to get an edge over the other new clans around them. Eventually bad new guys become decent okay guys, and then they become strong experienced guys, able to challenge the old veterans that taught them.
Old and experienced players only do themselves a disservice when they fail to share the secrets to winning with those weaker than them. The only thing in this game more fun than winning is fighting an opponent who is on the same level as you.
Those old players will find that they can't enjoy things anymore when they can't find someone who is as good as them or better.
So TLDR: Let us veterans be the best bros of the noobs, so all of us can have a fun game.
Also, ranks are stupid to have in a game, and do heavy historical research(more than 1 google search) before basing them on real historical ranks. This will lend atmosphere and immersion to yer little RP.
I'd also say that most of these new VC groups are going to be modelling themselves somewhat like NW regiments.
They're going to make up arbitrary ranking systems for themselves which don't really have any purpose, and most of them are going to be anachronistic or historically inaccurate.
So I'm just making this thread so that people can talk about the initial stages of growth of this community.
I'm going to give some history and my experience of clan creation, development, and maintenance to share with noobs and vets alike. I'd like the new guys to attempt to learn fast the mistakes not to make, and encourage the old boys to ease up with their normally sarcastic attitude. Feel free to add to this thread, or make your own, veteran leaders.
We veterans want to teach these guys what does and does not work both in game and before game, so that they develop fast, and we can have a thriving and gripping competitive community.
History:
With the beta and then release of Warband there was a wave of clans formed, most of them were small, around a dozen or so guys. None of them knew what exactly they were going to do in relation to each other. This turned out to be just a few things.
Once they started doing those things, they had to learn from scratch how exactly to do them well.
NW came out much later, and the ideas of groups and units(clans) was already established, but carried out by an entirely new community. They didn't know about the tactics and ideas of small scale combat which the Warband clans had. The huge number of new players, and the strong reenactor community encouraged large and strict battles between several different groups at once.
The strict rules of these battles were unnecessary in the eyes of WB clans. Any veteran native WB group could see that any of these formations and rules simply limited the effectiveness of these NW clans. It seemed like roleplay, existing solely for atmosphere. Why must I stand here and get shot with the rest of these guys, when instead I could just go behind this hill or tree just a short distance away, and still keep contact with my unit?
In other words, this way of doing things that NW regiments developed could be fun in a different way, but it was not very competitive in that it does not take advantage of the gameplay elements competitively.
So basically the only things to do as a Warband or NW clan are:
1: Fight other clans
2: Practice for fighting other clans
3: Attend community events as a group(EG: Multiclan battles, Duel Tournaments)
4: Fight other clans in a tournament
5: Populate public servers and work together(pubstomping)
6: Make mods or maps for the game
7: Do something other than M&B as a group
I have no reason to suspect that any of these options will not be viable for a Viking Conquest group.
So let's look at what makes a clan/group/regiment fun to be in and around and part of.
Firstly, you need to do stuff. Like those things listed up there. Nobody wants to be in a group that never or rarely does anything together.
Secondly, people should not feel a need to try to 'level up' their status in the group. The atmosphere should be one which involves learning about the game from each other, and helping and improving so you can beat the other guys, or just have fun(Believe me, Mount & Blade only gets funner when you can fight stronger opponents). If people feel like they have to compete for the positions of 'power' or greater say within the group, there tends to be competition between people in the unit itself, which may result in drama.
Warning: Drama taken in large enough doses can cause the following symptoms.
Moderate to severe anal discomfort
Fractures within the communal spine(playerbase)
Cancer(Endless, pointless drama)
Most native clans have switched over to a role format, formally or informally.
What I mean by a role, is that a person is recognized by the other players in his group as doing a specific job in the group.
This can be playing a certain class better than others, or being an organizer and informing the group about when activities are going to happen as well as setting them up.
It can be being the/a founder of a group, thus having the most say over the group's direction and demeanor, and what the group's long term plan is.(whose opinion will either be respected or drama/group fracture will likely ensue)
Or it can mean being a commander(NA translation: Caller) during matches because the players are confident in your command ability.(Or because you're the first/only person to step up)
Other things, like being a modder or a duelist are not greatly necessary to a group's survival, unless they're a modding or dueling clan.
When you organize your group along a role structure, every player feels like they have a job to do, and that it is important to the group's advancement. There is no arguing over who does what because someone is either good at something or he is not. If there are few jobs to do for a role for which you have more players than you need, the most skilled player for that role will be selected when you need to win, and the less skilled player will be chosen when learning is more important.
Overlapping roles are also useful when multiple players have a skill, but few players with that skill can be present at a particular time.
So basically what I'm saying to you new guys is that none of the veteran players in native look at each other as "King" or "Knight" or "Peasant." Ranks are largely meaningless to us. We play together, and if you can do something well enough, or want to learn it, you will be probably be given more chances to do that thing in the future with the group.
This is why new players just aren't in top tier competitive clans. Because they aren't good at almost anything in comparison to the other guys in the group who have been playing for thousands of hours and have dozens of competitive matches under their belt.
New players need to join new groups. They then need to learn from the skilled players and groups so they can catch up, and try to get an edge over the other new clans around them. Eventually bad new guys become decent okay guys, and then they become strong experienced guys, able to challenge the old veterans that taught them.
Old and experienced players only do themselves a disservice when they fail to share the secrets to winning with those weaker than them. The only thing in this game more fun than winning is fighting an opponent who is on the same level as you.
Those old players will find that they can't enjoy things anymore when they can't find someone who is as good as them or better.
So TLDR: Let us veterans be the best bros of the noobs, so all of us can have a fun game.
Also, ranks are stupid to have in a game, and do heavy historical research(more than 1 google search) before basing them on real historical ranks. This will lend atmosphere and immersion to yer little RP.