I have thought alot about how Clans and Guilds are so much alike but are so different. I am currently the CO (or GM) of a clan and a regular member of a WoW guild, so I have experienced them both for a number of years. They are both groups of like minded gamers banded together to have fun, make friends and play their respective gametypes. Clans are groups of players that play mainly First Person shooter type games and Guilds are formed from people playing MMOs or Massively Multiplayer Online games.
I have found that clan life seems to be much less hectic, changes happen slower, member loyalty to the clan means alot more to them then guildies to their guilds. I have also seen it from the leadership point of view...clans leaders are much more loyal to their members then Guild masters and officers are to its members, albiet the GM I have now has somewhat bucked that trend. I have been in levelling guilds, casual raiding guilds and now a hardcore raiding guild.
Guild members tend to change guilds ALOT during their time in a game unless they have found a really good home...in the 3 plus years I have been playing wow, I think I have been in over 10 guilds. They tend to break up alot, so the lengitivity of guilds falls far behind clans. I have been in two clans in the past 8 years...one that I had created with a couple of friends over 5 years ago and the one I was kicked out of due to politics within the unit which is still in existence today.
Guild members who level up and get to the highest level outgrow the levelling guild and move on if they actually want to expierence progression of the mmo game content. Even though they were helped alot by the higher level members of that guild, they dont hesitate to leave when the guild doesnt have anything further to help them with. If a guild is not progressing thru content fast enough, alot of people will leave their guild to find another one that is. I have also seen guild masters clean out a guild bank of all its gold and items, and change to another server taking everything the guild members have donated with them and leaving everyone left behind with an empty guild bank. Another common action is guildies dropping their guild tags late at night when no one is around so they dont have to explain anything.
I do have to say my early time in World of Warcraft was very disheartening considering how little loyalty I saw people showing their guilds compared to my clan. A clan where few people do leave and if they do its because life changes have caused them to stop playing but still choose to be considered a retired player rather just then just disappearing without a word. Dont get me wrong, we have had people leave for other clans but they are a small minority. In essence(IMO), guilds are for people to advance their personal goals in the game and not so much for making friends and just having a good time. Clans are more the other way where personal goals are not really relevant as the gameplay is no where near as serious and more based on teamwork.
I do have to say the guild I am in right now is more like my clan then all the rest of the raiding guilds I have been in...so I am pretty happy there. My first loyalty will always be to my 82ndAB clan though...its my baby and always will be.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tactical Realism in FPS war games
Most gamers probably havent heard of the term 'Tactical Realism, so I will explain what it means:
This is a style of gameplay for First Person Shooter type games. It typically involves modding (changing the configuration file and adding new bits of code to the game to tweak the settings) PC games like the Call of Duty series, Day of Defeat, and MOHAA for example...the runspeed is slowed down to match how fast a typical soldier who is carrying a full pack and weapon. The weapons file is adjusted to better reflect how fast of a fire rate and accuracy the weapon really had. All arcade like settings are turned off, like visual indicators of your teammates, target areas or thrown grenades...Also things like unrealistic perks, for a WW2 game...I am pretty sure the common soldier in the European theatre didnt have a pack of dogs at their command to attack enemies, a selection of different ammo, spy planes to let you know where the enemy is at. So in essence, pretty much anything that you wouldnt see in real life is removed.
There are also rules set into place, like no jumping from unrealistic heights...its not likely soldiers can jump down 2 stories onto an ashphalt street, blazing his machine gun all they way down, then hit the ground without missing a beat and continue on spraying and praying.
Grenade spamming...soldiers didnt indiscriminatly throw grenades around a battlefield looking for a cheap easy kill...no they threw them with purpose and ducked and covered so they didnt get hit by the shrapnel as well, the standard rule goes like this 'Do not throw nades into areas you havent seen or heard the enemy. This rule is there for realism purposes and fun factor....no one likes to be killed by a random no skill throw of a grenade.
We also have the run and gun rule or more commonly known as spray and pray. This type of rule stops the type of player that runs around the battlefield with little regard for his own life, never using his sights and shooting at everything he sees. Alot of Tactical Realism clans, adopt a very strict rule where sights MUST be used at all times when firing but some are more lax and allow covering fire, to suppress distant enemies.
No running, there are some that I would call Hardcore Tactical Realism units that enforce a no running rule, crouch only to really slow down the game. Personally I think that has crosses the line of having a happy medium of having TR rules and still keeping it fun, after all this is a video game and its been created for our enjoyment.
Spawnshooting, just another way to get a cheap kill. Most if not all Tactical Realism units frown upon this type of behaviour, as it doesnt take much skill to get kills in this manner. Plus it tends to piss off opposing team members...lol.
Bunnyhopping or jumping to avoid fire....now do you honestly think anyone in a real battle would jump up and down to avoid being hit? Not likely, unless the soldier was crazy or just plain stupid. With the newer games though, this type of tactic is easily negated thru modding, where its made impossible to jump more then once to effectivaly avoid fire.
Exploits, this is like cheating, using a glitch found in a map where it gives you an unfair advantage over the enemy. For instance, a wall you can see and fire thru but the enemy cannot see you. Water that allows you to do the same thing. Key binds that allow you to fire a weapon alot faster then the fire rate of the game settings.
Teamkilling, since this is Realism, friendly fire is ALWAYS on. This means that if you accidently fire at your own teammates, you can kill them. Since the indicators are turned off, you have to be careful who your firing at and its best to learn how to tell the difference between the uniform your wearing and the uniform your enemy is wearing.
Recruiting, since the Tactical Realism community is a small one, using another clan's server and or website if heavily frowned upon. Its considering disrespectful to do this and has caused entire units to be banned from servers. I know I have ordered the more then one clan to be banned from our servers and website and I am sure more down the road.
Tactical Realism is also about using Tactics and Teamwork to defeat the enemy. Squad movements and communication are the most important part of TR, but of course player skill does play a big part in it. Lone wolfing isnt something encouraged or typical, albiet they do have their place during matches or scrimmages.
This style of play is all about having fun but still have a sense of realism within the game. I personally love the style of gameplay and would never go back to the run and gun style that is so prevalent.
If your interested about TR, please visit my clan's website at www.the82ndab.com or tacticalrealism.net. TR.net is a gathering place for a number of TR units, we have campaigns, tournaments and ladders. My clan is has been involved with them since their inception and is a great place to see more about TR.
GEN.Underpants
P.S.
Hope to have another post made in a few days..not sure yet what it will be about though...keep tuned.
This is a style of gameplay for First Person Shooter type games. It typically involves modding (changing the configuration file and adding new bits of code to the game to tweak the settings) PC games like the Call of Duty series, Day of Defeat, and MOHAA for example...the runspeed is slowed down to match how fast a typical soldier who is carrying a full pack and weapon. The weapons file is adjusted to better reflect how fast of a fire rate and accuracy the weapon really had. All arcade like settings are turned off, like visual indicators of your teammates, target areas or thrown grenades...Also things like unrealistic perks, for a WW2 game...I am pretty sure the common soldier in the European theatre didnt have a pack of dogs at their command to attack enemies, a selection of different ammo, spy planes to let you know where the enemy is at. So in essence, pretty much anything that you wouldnt see in real life is removed.
There are also rules set into place, like no jumping from unrealistic heights...its not likely soldiers can jump down 2 stories onto an ashphalt street, blazing his machine gun all they way down, then hit the ground without missing a beat and continue on spraying and praying.
Grenade spamming...soldiers didnt indiscriminatly throw grenades around a battlefield looking for a cheap easy kill...no they threw them with purpose and ducked and covered so they didnt get hit by the shrapnel as well, the standard rule goes like this 'Do not throw nades into areas you havent seen or heard the enemy. This rule is there for realism purposes and fun factor....no one likes to be killed by a random no skill throw of a grenade.
We also have the run and gun rule or more commonly known as spray and pray. This type of rule stops the type of player that runs around the battlefield with little regard for his own life, never using his sights and shooting at everything he sees. Alot of Tactical Realism clans, adopt a very strict rule where sights MUST be used at all times when firing but some are more lax and allow covering fire, to suppress distant enemies.
No running, there are some that I would call Hardcore Tactical Realism units that enforce a no running rule, crouch only to really slow down the game. Personally I think that has crosses the line of having a happy medium of having TR rules and still keeping it fun, after all this is a video game and its been created for our enjoyment.
Spawnshooting, just another way to get a cheap kill. Most if not all Tactical Realism units frown upon this type of behaviour, as it doesnt take much skill to get kills in this manner. Plus it tends to piss off opposing team members...lol.
Bunnyhopping or jumping to avoid fire....now do you honestly think anyone in a real battle would jump up and down to avoid being hit? Not likely, unless the soldier was crazy or just plain stupid. With the newer games though, this type of tactic is easily negated thru modding, where its made impossible to jump more then once to effectivaly avoid fire.
Exploits, this is like cheating, using a glitch found in a map where it gives you an unfair advantage over the enemy. For instance, a wall you can see and fire thru but the enemy cannot see you. Water that allows you to do the same thing. Key binds that allow you to fire a weapon alot faster then the fire rate of the game settings.
Teamkilling, since this is Realism, friendly fire is ALWAYS on. This means that if you accidently fire at your own teammates, you can kill them. Since the indicators are turned off, you have to be careful who your firing at and its best to learn how to tell the difference between the uniform your wearing and the uniform your enemy is wearing.
Recruiting, since the Tactical Realism community is a small one, using another clan's server and or website if heavily frowned upon. Its considering disrespectful to do this and has caused entire units to be banned from servers. I know I have ordered the more then one clan to be banned from our servers and website and I am sure more down the road.
Tactical Realism is also about using Tactics and Teamwork to defeat the enemy. Squad movements and communication are the most important part of TR, but of course player skill does play a big part in it. Lone wolfing isnt something encouraged or typical, albiet they do have their place during matches or scrimmages.
This style of play is all about having fun but still have a sense of realism within the game. I personally love the style of gameplay and would never go back to the run and gun style that is so prevalent.
If your interested about TR, please visit my clan's website at www.the82ndab.com or tacticalrealism.net. TR.net is a gathering place for a number of TR units, we have campaigns, tournaments and ladders. My clan is has been involved with them since their inception and is a great place to see more about TR.
GEN.Underpants
P.S.
Hope to have another post made in a few days..not sure yet what it will be about though...keep tuned.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A bit about myself
Just wanted to let everyone know about myself...been in the gaming world for quite a number of years. I started off playing pong back in the day, lol. Ya I know I just dated myself, oh well. I then progressed thru the commodore 64, Intellivision, Vectrex, Atari 5200, Colecovision, NES, Sega Genesis, the various Playstations and abit on the X-box and latest Nindendo platforms. I did steer away from consoles after Sega Genisis came out to PC gaming. I enjoy the flexibility, mod-ability and the keyboard mouse combo for an interface. Gaming consoles are fun though...games like NHL2009 are great when people are over but for FPS and MMO type games...PCs win hands down. Here is a link to an interesting site I found: http://www.thegameconsole.com/
In regards to the name Underpants, its stems from an old boss of mine...his last name was Underhill...a number of us in the office would call him Underpants instead as a joke. So when it came time to pick a nickname for me to use in Multiplayer servers, thats what I used in his honor..lol. My full name now is <82ndab>GEN.Underpants.
Anyway, lets move onto myself. I started online gaming in seriousness a few years back when I found myself laid off from my job at the time and had way too much time on my hands. A friend had the game Medal of Honor(a world war 2 based FPS or First Person Shooter) and it looked like alot of fun, so I picked it up and haven't looked back. I started off with the single player and it was fun, but you can only play it so many times and its becomes pretty boring. So next I tried multiplayer. At first, I really didn't like it, all I could find was servers full of people running around with machine guns, jumping down 3 stories at a time, arms flailing about, absolutely nothing like what actually happened in real warfare during the war. I did happen about a realism server where things were slowed down...people took their time, they actually aimed and didnt spray and pray. It almost felt like the real thing, of course there is the limitations of it being a video game but I fell in love with the type of gameplay. I was recruited by the 17SS a realism clan which nearly fell apart until I stepped up and started running practices for scrimmages(facing other clans in an organized match) and when the current leader retired and promoted me to the position. This history is for another post though..I will get to it later. Once MOHAA burnt itself out, I moved onto Call of Duty series and still play COD2 and COD5 to this day. I am also involved with World of Warcraft.
In regards to the name Underpants, its stems from an old boss of mine...his last name was Underhill...a number of us in the office would call him Underpants instead as a joke. So when it came time to pick a nickname for me to use in Multiplayer servers, thats what I used in his honor..lol. My full name now is <82ndab>GEN.Underpants.
Anyway, lets move onto myself. I started online gaming in seriousness a few years back when I found myself laid off from my job at the time and had way too much time on my hands. A friend had the game Medal of Honor(a world war 2 based FPS or First Person Shooter) and it looked like alot of fun, so I picked it up and haven't looked back. I started off with the single player and it was fun, but you can only play it so many times and its becomes pretty boring. So next I tried multiplayer. At first, I really didn't like it, all I could find was servers full of people running around with machine guns, jumping down 3 stories at a time, arms flailing about, absolutely nothing like what actually happened in real warfare during the war. I did happen about a realism server where things were slowed down...people took their time, they actually aimed and didnt spray and pray. It almost felt like the real thing, of course there is the limitations of it being a video game but I fell in love with the type of gameplay. I was recruited by the 17SS a realism clan which nearly fell apart until I stepped up and started running practices for scrimmages(facing other clans in an organized match) and when the current leader retired and promoted me to the position. This history is for another post though..I will get to it later. Once MOHAA burnt itself out, I moved onto Call of Duty series and still play COD2 and COD5 to this day. I am also involved with World of Warcraft.
Monday, July 13, 2009
First day
Hello everyone (ya I know...talking to myself on the first day..lol)
I am excited about starting this up...never blogged in my life....not a writer at all by any stretch of the imagination but want to try it regardless. This site wont be about all kinds of PC gaming...mainly about games that I play(ed) or read about. Mainly the Call of Duty FPS series, World of Warcraft, and ARMA2 to start with. I am looking forward to the latest version of Mechwarrior though...I loved the old series!
Just a heads up about myself....I am the CO or Commanding Officer of a large Call of Duty clan of around 100 members or so that is involved in the Tactical Realism community...we have servers on COD2, COD4, COD WaW and recently ARMA2. I also play quite abit of WoW on the Uther server, with 2 80 level characters and 3 characters in their 70s. I will get more in depth on these subjects as time goes by though.
Anyway...hope everyone who follows this blog enjoys everything posted.
Lorenzo.
I am excited about starting this up...never blogged in my life....not a writer at all by any stretch of the imagination but want to try it regardless. This site wont be about all kinds of PC gaming...mainly about games that I play(ed) or read about. Mainly the Call of Duty FPS series, World of Warcraft, and ARMA2 to start with. I am looking forward to the latest version of Mechwarrior though...I loved the old series!
Just a heads up about myself....I am the CO or Commanding Officer of a large Call of Duty clan of around 100 members or so that is involved in the Tactical Realism community...we have servers on COD2, COD4, COD WaW and recently ARMA2. I also play quite abit of WoW on the Uther server, with 2 80 level characters and 3 characters in their 70s. I will get more in depth on these subjects as time goes by though.
Anyway...hope everyone who follows this blog enjoys everything posted.
Lorenzo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)