Starting A Clan
A comprehensive guide by the staff of the STG...

The Weekly Clan Founding Plan...

Pre Founding | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

The Pre Founding Stage - Getting your clan sorted out...

In all of the STG's years of running (from 2000 in the ACD days) right up till now we have seen clans come and go but more especially NEW clans.

Starting a clan from scratch shouldn't be taken lightly, it takes knowledge of clans, friendships and more importantly TIME!

The biggest mistake we have seen people do is start a clan without actually thinking of the way the clan will run. These are the questions you should ask yourself BEFORE you officially announce the start of your clan...

1: Do you have any friends to help you start off your clan?

This one point is probably the biggest stumbling block that most new clans fall and kill themselves on, starting off as an 'OMC' or 'One Man Clan'. You DON'T want to start a Star Trek clan with just yourself in it, it will more than likely end with the clan being scrapped and some of the other larger clans dismissing you as a 'noob' clan with no direction. BEFORE you start your clan off officially you MUST have more than 1 member in it, preferably more than 5 members in it, THEN you can think about the rest of the questions.

2: Do you have your website planned out?

Since the STG came into most clans eyes the clan website has now become the front line of a clans diplomacy efforts. Before the STG came online the old ACD listed clans websites for the Armada Clan Directory. That game seen the first revolution of trek clan sites as the ACD become more popular and clans started to interact with each other through there websites. With the era of the STG it's become even more important. If a clan wishes to contact you nine times out of ten they will come looking for your clan site in the STG. Now...whats worse...not having your clan site listed here? Or having your clan site listed here and people clicking on it to see a crap site which crashes there explorer window. Trust me, its the latter that pisses more clans off than not having your site listed here.

You MUST have a solid, easy to navigate, well designed site. If you want an idea of what your site can look like just take a browse through the clan directory or the high end ranks in the top clans list, but try and avoid frame sites. You HAVE to get your site online before your main clan gets officially launched. Gone are the days when a clan was based on the efforts of its members in the game. Nowadays with the increasing diplomatic and political views of clans you NEED a well founded solid website for diplomatic efforts.

3: Will you or wont you use ranks?

A lot of clans these days are using a rank structure, normally based on the race there clan chooses. You don't HAVE to use a rank structure but if you are then decide what rank structure you will use and more importantly, what RACE will your clan lean towards when its up and running.

4: Are you (as the clan founder) already friendly with other clan leaders?

A great start for a new clan just before opening is to gain diplomatic ties with other founded clans in the games you are playing in. If you manage to gain diplomatic ties with some of the larger clans in the Trek world then other clans who are looking at your newly opened clan site will look on you with a little bit more respect as you have already gained ties to other clans. GO for diplomatic ties to the federation based clans first as they are more likely to accept the more higher end MPP (Mutual Protection Pact) and NAP (Non Aggression Pact) treaties. Once your clan has found it's feet then you can move onto diplomatic ties with the more inherently aggressive Klingon and Romulan based clans.

5: What games will your clan play in?

This is the important factor here, and will effect your clan recruiting and diplomacy policy greatly. It is best to start in a maximum of 2 Trek games, don't go over 2 as you are spreading your clan too thin. Pick 2 games, 1 which has a busy lobby and another one like BC which is quieter. Stick to those 2 games for the first few months of your clans life as spreading out too early is not a good idea.

Once you have asked and answered those questions and made the necessary decisions, then you can continue to the first week of your clans life...