|
Everest -> RE: AQ Unofficial clans (4/19/2011 3:07:43)
|
I wanted to check in with some of the higher-ups before weighing in, but after some discussion I feel as though I may be able to explain some of the reasoning behind the differences of AQ and MQ-centered clans and those for the communities playing AQW, ED, and DF.
Simply put, historically unofficial clans have caused problems here on these forums. They have a habit of losing activity and causing moderation problems, which I can't really go into in much more depth. However, because there are opportunities to change that system in regards to the games of AQ and MQ, they were taken in an effort to prevent the inactivity and rule-breaking issues of the older clan threads. The reason unofficial clans exist for AQW, DF, and ED is that these games don't really have official, canonical potential substitutes (at least for the time being). It was decided that without an official system tied back into the games, unofficial clans were the only way to go, as the forum staff did not by any means want to take clans completely away from the members. However, in all honesty that system isn't ideal, and I hope you'll trust me when I say that.
I also wanted to clarify some of the confusion about advertising here. If you'd like to link an off-site forum in your signature, that's perfectly fine. But blatant advertising isn't allowed, and that includes any kind of attempt to incite members to visit the website. So text like "click me" or "click here to join my clan" wouldn't be allowed under the forum rules. If a member comes across an embedded link of his/her own accord and wishes to join the clan, however, he or she is completely welcome to do so.
Advertising via PM can be a bit trickier. If you are close friends with another forum member and you think he might like to join your clan so you can do things together, that may be okay. But keep in mind that members, whether you know them or not, may take any recruitment offer as harassment, and that can cause significant problems. We want to protect members from any feeling of harassment, so if you truly would like to ask someone to join a clan, it may be best if you did so outside these forums. Aside from saving you from any trouble, if you agree upon ways to contact each other outside of these forums it probably means the two of you would be close enough that you could ask the other person if he would like to join a clan without it seeming presumptuous.
I hope that clarifies some things. :)
|
|
|
|
