SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

SEA clans and the future.
 

**sorry for shitty formatting and/or grammar errors, I usually just write and think about how shit it looks afterwards :^)**



I was thinking of writing a massive introduction explaining everything that I've personally dealt with and experienced during the 3 years of running one of the larger sc2sea clans, but honestly, I just want to open a discussion for one of the largest issues that is plaguing the sc2sea clan "scene" right now, and hopefully get some feedback on what should be done. As many of the usual users of this site have probably noticed, even though there was a lot of hype surrounding the release of LotV, the decline of clans and clan wars has continued unhindered by the hype of LotV and come to a complete halt. There hasn't been a clan war since once of the last weeks of HotS, and honestly, I don't think there will be many more given the course we're currently on. I believe the reason clans won't bounce back with LotV is that the issue is just too established and won't change without solid action.


The issue being players that are "Dual clanning"~


There are only 4 clans currently active on sc2sea; sR, ETL, mGG and FaDe. I don't see that number changing either, considering the fact there are people in some of these clans who are actually members of the the other 3 whilst remaining in their "main clan". 4 clans presents one of the bigger issues SEA's faced before, in the form of ladder: Things just get really stale when you're fighting the same handful of people. Asking ETL and mGG every other week for a repeat of the previous clan war with the same people, format and rivalry has just gotten old. It's at the point where clans aren't even actively seeking one-another out for wars, there's ****-all banter online (even mild banter.. none.) and I can't get myself to keep asking the same group for the same event week in and week out.


It was far more exciting and a great deal better when clans like DGTV, eMp, FS, TCP and many more were around. Not just to give me a choice or vary each weekend's clan war "flavour", but it truly felt like being in one of the clans meant something. When sR would go out to fight one of the big boys such as ToR, then the next day fight FS, and another 2 clans the next weekend... it felt exciting. The exact opposite of what fighting ETL then MAYBE fighting mGG/FaDe the next weekend feels like. It feels way too stale.


I'll go back to my point of "dual clanning", the reason I think shutting this sort've thing down (atleast to some extent) would help is it would give a player a greater identity, it'd create a greater gap between the clans, allow more banter, and perhaps bring about more exciting clan wars. The first step will just succeed in reshaping the clans into the individual entities they should be, the second step would need to open up the possibility of growth in other clans and open the door for new clans once more.


NEW CLANS. That's something we need.


Why aren't we getting many new clans? I'll tell you why, it's not solely because there "aren't enough people", it's because the new clans that do pop up can't compete with the likes of mGG/sR/ETL/FaDe muscling them out with their insanely extensive and almost entirely shared rosters. Look at HvG for example, a new clan full of a bunch of new people who showed a lot of promise; very recently closed their doors and merged into the larger clans like ETL. I had a little chat with Ice, their leader, and he mentioned how he wished they were one of the "top dogs" of SEA clans right now. This saddens me greatly, though there was a great deal of banter, myself and many members of sR had a great deal of respect for what Ice and HvG had accomplished, and what they wanted to accomplish. There are plenty more examples of clans that just dry up and die because they lack the strength when first developing to take on the ONLY other clans in SEA, who also happen to be the strongest thanks to how it's all worked out.


Atleast on the bright side I've heard chatter of a TA revival on the cards... I bloody hope so, not only because a bunch of those guys are mates, but also because it could provide a kick-start for healthy competition once more between sc2sea clans.


I can already see the arguments coming out of this being things along the lines of "but my friends are in x clan and i have other friends in y clan", this is something I can't just brush off and say "suck it up" because it comes down to how people individually feel. At the end of the day, do you want competition to return to the clans of sc2sea? Do you want clan leagues again? Do you want to be able to talk a bit of smack for being the best clan among a bunch of them? We need to splinter the clans back into their original forms somehow and open up room for growth. We need to make it a fair playing field instead of choking the competition out.


Sorry if I didn't produce many solutions to the issue, but I was really hoping for the community's input on a matter that's been a thorn in my side as a leader of a large clan for almost 3 years. We've got a thriving community on sc2sea thanks to the OSC system, why not bring our clan system up to scratch?


Thanks,

fry`Rice.




P.S. - To any leaders of clans that have disbanded who have read this and were already considering reforming your clan, please do. There are plenty of people available, you just need to get the ball rolling and start small.

** If you're also just someone who wants to start up a clan/thought about it, message me on Skype @ jessie6726 if you have any questions about it. I can, and will help you with anything.