I've always believed that the forum should reflect what the clan actually does, so I have started to restructure things to reflect that view. Yes, it's fine to have aspirations towards a tournaments section or a playtesting gauntlet, but unless those things are real and active then it gives a false impression to anyone considering joining the clan. At the moment the only active forum sections are the league, new members, articles, announcements and general chat. I'm giving the play testing area notice that unless it starts to be useful I will move it to the oubliette with all the other defunct forums. I'm happy to add new areas if people ask for them to be added, but take note that they'll be binned again once they stop being used.
It's quite important to have a defined clan identity, otherwise players won't know what they can find here that they can't get at PDCMagic for instance. If you don't think this sort of thing is important then it's worth looking at the criticism this clan receives, i have an example for you.
We claim to be a clan where tournament players can find competitive deck discussion and playtesting partners. Recently moromete, one of the top pauper players, left the clan because nobody ever makes themsleves available for testing. That's not just a matter of being free to play a game, it's also thinking ahead and having a list of tier 1 decks prepared for the most popular formats. This week one of our members, grandpoobah, publicly discouraged a prospect from joining for the same reason. If we are to become the clan we want to be then these attitudes have to change. We have to all start using the clan resources, forum, clan chat and think about what we can contribute. I'd also counsel anyone having a problem with the clan to discuss it here, so we can try and fix it, rather than just leaving or complaining on other forums.
Subject: Forum restructure and discussion 
Wed Dec 22, 2010 4:49 am