So I know that this topic has and will always ruffle some feathers, but it's also incredibly.... refreshing to see so many people bringing the subject up, now? I can't express how many times I've probably left this site and come back, only to leave again because if I'm being completely honest, its no fun to roleplay in a community that you can visibly see is struggling. The stress of being a Leader or Deputy was just... impending doom, to say the least. We all have our own lives, y'know? And I know I'm fanning the flames, and probably am unwelcome to post my opinion given I've brought it up constantly before and that I'm no longer an active member. But that's the thing. Would anything happen if people start speaking up first?
Its always been shot down, because when it is brought up, change is ultimately scary and nobody ever wants to delete a Clan. But its been... kind of a problem ever since Travis let Wiki fall down into the depths of eternal torment, that Classic hasn't been incredibly active. Its hard to remain active, and play catch-up when there are so very many Clans to pick from, and roleplay in. Half the time your unable to meet new users period unless you rp cross Clan, you won't be able to rp with users who stay and gravitate within the 1/3 Clans — 1/4 Clans at most — that they rp in. And, after the move, a lot of users were lost. Clans were put into storage, and I know that most of the time finding a Deputy can be extremely hard to find; especially an active one.
And I think at this point we kind of need to bite the bullet and sit down, and have a rational discussion. Try and put any biased opinions about Clan favorites, homes, or Clans you Lead aside and actually discuss the pros and cons. I don't want to start an argument, because I'm not suggesting certain Clans to be deleted. I just think that if we don't talk about this and try and consider change, nothing is going to happen or get better.
It's harder as it is to bring in new members, because Warriors RP has become exclusively for Chats [ amino ], Discord, and DeviantART. And I feel like the major two things that deter new users from joining are the fact that there are: 14 Clans/Groups in all, and that there is such a vast divide with where to rp, and which users you rp with.
I'd also like to point out that with 14 roleplay Clans/Groups, not a lot have a tendency to be unique anymore. It can be hard to create fresh, new ideas because there are so many more options of those ideas having been used before or recently. Take the Revolutionary Groups. They were the most unique thing on Classic. However, with the introduction of creating entirely new religions, monarchies, ranks, etc for a Clan, that title was slowly taken away. I love the concept of the Rev Groups, but at the moment it doesn't come across as fun or unique anymore. If there are so many Clans that deter from the more traditional Clans, then its hard to consider the Rev Groups to be original and unique.
PROS AND CONS, WITH HIGHLIGHTED POINTSPROS
ACTIVITY BOOST — Deleting a number of Clans would help boost activity. The point would be to remove the number of people who devote themselves to Clans, and to mingle with other Clans. Especially when there are less, or a simple number of them to choose from.
MORE STAFF ACTIVITY — It's pretty explanatory I think. There's always been a constant problem of having users that
MORE ENCOURAGED USER ROLEPLAY — Users would be encouraged to roleplay more within different Clans. This means that people wouldn't be torn between choosing between a total of 14 clans, to a much more reasonable and dwindled down number. If you think about it, that's a main reason for the decrease of activity.
MORE MEANING TO BECOMING A STAFF MEMBER — When there are less Clans with much more active staff, etc, it definitely encourages a boost to want to be chosen as the Leader, Deputy, etc. It gives more meaning to the title, and encourages users who achieve said title to be more active. I'm not saying its 100% surefire, but it's definitely something that would be boosted.
ATTRACTS NEWER USERS — This, I think, is a major one. I've asked multiple people what they like when joining a new site, group, or chat, etc. They like diversity, but at a 4 Clan max. I'm not saying that's exactly the number we need to be, but I am saying that most new users tend to stick to only one or two Clans and Groups. If you've noticed, the first question brought up when a new member joins is "Which Clan should I join?" The point is they form opinions on only joining one or two Clans. Another huge thing I noticed was users like a unique experience ( described below ). It would potentially rake in more users, and more users would be happy to actively have at least one character in a Clan rather than stretching themselves thin, etc. Most users here anyways tend to gravitate and stick to a main Clan, with one or two — three at most — other side Clans.
UNIQUE CLAN IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES — This was the most popular option that I gave, that got a lot of attention. People are more interested in a diverse setting with unique experiences and ideas. At the moment, for Classic, its become a sort of standstill. The "Norm" in my opinion has become trying to make a unique Clan with different belief systems, and/or ranks. Which most of these ideas are unique, and interesting. But in the end it takes away from an actual unique experience. If someone new joins, and see's that there are more Clans that have different and weird twists to them than traditional Clans, it'd definitely be confusing and hard to figure out.
OTHER PRO'S TO BRING UP WITHOUT NEEDING TO EXPLAIN
— more plots within other clans that can last longer, or have significant meaning.
— less work for users ( roleplay is supposed to be fun, not stressful!! )
— much simpler in the long run
CONS
HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE DELETION PROCESS — This is the one thing that would be pretty rough to deal with, aftermath and all. Figuring out which Clans to delete, figuring out Leaders and etc, you get the gist. Its a scary thing to consider. But its also why I think starting from scratch would be the way to unruffle all feathers, especially if there would be a nominating system for Leaders.
EMOTIONAL VALUE — I wont deny, a lot of users have a certain emotional value to a Clan that they are apart of, or invested in. Its the main reason so many people are vastly against the idea. Its hard to choose which Clans, and when your favorite is thought about, a riot happens.
DELETING A CLAN YOU LEAD — Obviously if your Leading a Clan you put a lot of hard work and effort into, your not going to want to delete it. Not only have you devoted a lot of time and effort into it, but it also becomes a child to others. A safe haven, a favorite place, and something with intense emotional value.
THE RULE ABOUT DELETION — This is pretty self explanatory I guess. I personally think this rule comes across as... limiting and at most, clinging to nostalgia. But at the same time I think its important to think for the best of Classic, rather than cling to favorite Clans and original concepts.
I think the main point I'm trying to make is that, despite having emotional values and bonds with certain Clans, we need to start trying to put that aside and look at the activity and new users. At most, the new users don't stay active enough to continue on the site. Most of the newer members are members rejoining from a while ago, etc. At the moment the future of Classic can be at most described as murky. The only thing that is constant and recurring is old members and users being active, or actively spreading themselves out to keep the Clan Contributions up.
But we really need to focus on both the old members of Classic, as well as the new members. The new members are literally going to be what we used to be, and what we are now. But its hard to draw new people in when we have such a discourse with Activity, and honestly, having so many confusing Clans. And not even that, but when Clan deletion or starting anew is brought up, the old members don't want to consider it.
Having a plethora of Clans works for a larger based site, that either has users who create their own Clans, or enough users to keep them insanely busy. I just think this is an important topic that needs to be discussed for the sake of the future of Classic. Its rare to have newer members, and common to have older members who rejoin, etc.
We need to cater to the newer users and the possibility of them, as well.
TLDR; I say the safest and best bet to deleting Clans is starting from scratch and having a completely new band of Clans & Groups. Honestly, Six is ideal, and 4 is even better. But that's just my opinion.
