The Clique

There's been lots of chatter lately about clans.  Who's in.  Who's out. Why?  It got me thinking about my (original) clan a little.  Actually, let me rephrase that... it got me thinking about the clan that I'm a member of.  "My Clan" sort of makes it sound like their's ownership involved and if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that no one "owns" a clan. 

I've been a member of OMM for 4+ years now.  In that time we've seen people get banned, booted, split off to form other clans, join and never post, join and never quit posting, people be very active for a while then nothing then very active again.  In other words, we've seen the same thing that virtually every clan on this site has seen over the years.  One of these situations inevitably pops up every few months or so.  I've gotten pissed about it, I've found myself not giving a shit at all and experienced every emotion in between.  I've been on the outside looking in and a few months ago when I became the clan OL, I've been the one left to make the final call.  It's taken 4 years but I've finally found some peace when these things come up.

What I've found, generally speaking, is that it comes down to cliques.

Now, when you say the word, automatically the mind tends to start attaching negative connotations to the term.  In reality though, it's not a negative thing at all.  After all, 2old2play is one giant clique of people who don't like playing with Timmy.  Within that clique are other cliques of people who like the same game or play at the same time etc.  And yes, within those cliques (clans) there are sub cliques. 

I'm in a clique.  I no longer care what people think of that.  It's just a way of saying, "I have certain handful of guys that I really prefer to play with."  It's not that I won't play with others or others aren't allowed to play with us, but over the years there's a group that have developed a friendship that goes beyond the site or the game and there's nothing wrong with that.

So, what does that mean for a clan?  Occasionally, these cliques will develop and sometimes, they'll start their own clan.  When they do, people tend to get huffy over it.  There's no reason to.  If I'm the guy in charge of a clan, and a clique splits off, then good luck to them.  If they want to stay with the original clan and can still meet whatever requirements are in place at the time, sweet.  If they want to do their own thing, don't take it as a personal assault on you.

I've had to learn this the hard way myself.  There was a time when OMM was a hardcore gaming group of casual gamers. (Yeah, see if you can follow that train of logic)  Over time our forum has become more of a coffee klatch than a game room.  Some people love it, some hated it and left or started their own thing.  It pissed me off but in time you just have to take it as the ebb and flow of a forum's life that it is.  One day 2 years from now I'm sure our clan forum will have an entirely different feel and someone will probably hate it and leave.  That's ok, as long as you leave with respect...

That means, no flaming the boards, no attacking mods and members, no pissing to other members to try and "steal" people.  If a clan is not for you anymore or doesn't provide all you need, it's not that big a deal.  That's kind of why there are 100 different clans on this site.  If you have a little clique of your own and want to start a new clan, knock yourself out.  If you need to join 2 or 3 or like JollyRoger...all of them, thats cool too as long as your clan is cool with multi-membership (and to the best of my knowledge 99% are).   Sometimes people will leave clans because they don't like the mods, don't get along with a particular member of the clan or just don't seem to "fit in" with the group at large.  That's no reason to get pissy.  Just tell the admin that you're moving on and move along.  It's a big site.

Since I joined OMM I've always thought that I'd be OMM for life.  Then a few short months ago I found myself giving serious consideration to leaving and going a totally different direction.  In the end I didn't.  That's not to say that one day I might think about it again.  If I do though I hope people don't get upset about it.  In the end, the people on my Friend's List are more important than the ones on my Clan List.  Even more important than that are the people who live in my house. ;)  After all, it's just a game.