What are the pro's and con's of joining a clan? What is required to join an "average," clan?
I like to think I am an intermediate level player at what I do (that is 1v1 real-time auto games), but have very little experience outside of this. Every now and then I am asked about joining a clan, normally I say I am not that serious and turn the people down because I think it just sounds like another commitment. But more recently I have been offered some help and I may even get the chance join a clan, and I have decided to actually give it some thought. But first, what does joining a clan actually require of me? And what would it be like being in a clan? Do clan's have their own private message boards? How does this clan thing work? Is it normally a big time commitment, or is it just normally a commitment in the beginning when they try to get you up to par with the rest of the clan? Besides being able to more easily learn from more experienced and skilled players, why would somebody like me want to join a clan?

I tried doing a forum search, but my googlefoo is not that strong when searching for things like this? Is there maybe a nifty wiki page that I don't know about, where I could learn more about clans?

There isn't any. Maybe for a cool icon.

Pros: Inheriting the clan's reputation.
Cons: Inheriting the clan's reputation.

I guess the pro is that you've got a group of people to be around, but the con is that another group of people might hate your group for some reason.

I would argue the advantages of joining a clan are exactly the ones you state in your post. You gain contacts with more experienced and more knowledgeable people who have an incentive to help you develop as a player.

However the value of this, at least from my perspective as someone who is clanless, is entirely dependent on the clan you join. If you take the time to find a clan that has members who have a similar philosophy to you, I'm sure it will be a positive experience.

Whether or not you actually need to join a clan or not to gain all these advantages is debatable. If you contact a more serious clan about joining they will often involve things such as test games where your ability is evaluated. The process of doing that will almost certainly improve you as a player and help increase the number of players you know who may be willing to help you.

In answer to your specific questions: -

• Requirements of a clan and your experience of it are entirely dependent upon the clan you join.
  
  
• Clans do have their own private message board.
  
  
• The time commitment is probably down to how much you want to put into and get out of the clan. The value to you for doing this though is down to how closely your values align with those of the clans.
  
  

In your position I would try and get to know this person who is offering help to you and suggesting their clan to you. I would probably have a look in the forums to see the behaviour of members of this clan. I'd take any advice and feedback on how I play, and probably be asking the same questions you pose in this thread directly to the person who may be giving you the opportunity to join the clan.

I would list the sort of clans I think you could be interested based on your post, but I have never taken the time to find out about clans. I can tell you based on my experiences of playing on the ladders however, that I do know the clan ONE! has some good people in it who could help you improve as a player.

A clan's a self-defining community of people. When done right, you end up with a good number of active people with mutual interests and make it easier for each member to pursue theirs.

Usually, it's just a group of people that you want to play with making life easier.

The downsides are that clans tend to cut you off from the larger community (the same way having access to everything you need keeps you from really exploring far). You develop a skewed perception- people in Wolves usually have no idea what competitive 1v1 looks like, and people in Apex aren't very engaged with RP culture (neither of these are really a disadvantage if you don't care about a specific format). These communities often also have holes- CORP is noticeably lacking in high-skill elite players, for example, although it has a good number of skilled players for mid-level competitive 1v1. Clans also tend to develop template preferences that distance themselves from the larger community, etc.

Most clans on Warlight aren't worth being part of. A lot of them will just inhibit your development as a player.

^ +999 holdway & knyte

(ignore the first 4 replies bro)

most active clans will probs be happy to tell you what amount of activity they require, as a minimum, if any. keep that in mind when shopping around.

its not that big a time commitment for me, at least, but i gotta watch my multiday game count

clans often have internal events. and its a lot easier to find people to play with/against, for team games, or for sparring matches 1v1

Thank you to everybody who replied, your view points have really helped me in my thought process. I think that a lot of you have taken the time to give really thought out advice and I appreciate all of it. Warlight has a great community.

the pros is that you get clanmates, the cons is that you get clanmates.

^ That's a pretty good TL;DR.

It's like having a nomadic, I-can-fly-wherever-the-fuck-I-want lifestyle where you visit a new place often and whenever you feel like it but often aren't able to find exactly what you want and don't develop deep long-term connections. And then deciding to move somewhere and actually live there. You could live in the forest in a middle of nowhere with no one around you (like a semi-active clan where you don't really interact with the members that much) and often drive out to visit other communities. You could jump into a big urban area (CORP, Hydra, etc.) with lots of interaction and a ton of diversity despite a common prevailing culture. Or you could join a suburban community that's a little less diverse, still fairly active, and perhaps lacking in the culture the city has to offer (Wolves, Alpha Theta Epsilon, etc.)- or a monastery with a specific focus where you're surrounded by some highly skilled people (Masters, Apex, etc.). Or you could move into that weird apartment building where a lot of people live but no one interacts with one another outside biweekly half-assed social events that the manager tries to host (DARKLORDS).

Vitriol, I like your reply. If it is true, than I like the way you have phrased it. Your reply is both informational, and easy to understand.

Edited 4/7/2016 17:52:30

and people in Apex aren't very engaged with RP culture

You can't say that! Kenny might still play RP games from time to time

vitriol r u living in a basement cus u just made clans sound like it some kind of RPG to play with

how did u know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nah, I live in my own basement, actually.

Gotta watch over the bodies.

Edited 4/8/2016 01:27:29

Pro's
The pros are in clans

Con's
You have to handle the arrogance of the pros

Con
Most clans con you out of your time

Pro
But some of them are pretty pro