Its quite intresting 
In computer and video gaming, a clan or a guild is a group of players that play online games together. They may play against other clans via matches or challenges, also known as scrims (scrimmages) and wars. A clan's objective can vary from having fun in a competitive environment or participating in more serious tournaments and clan wars.
There are usually different ranks and positions within any clan. A small clan usually has a single leader, but a bigger group will have two or sometimes more. There may also be co-leaders, who are usually the main leader's closest friends or trusted members. The rest of the players are simply the regular members. Some very large clans have a council of leaders, usually composed of the clan's founders and other members who have served for an extended period of time. If a leader decides to leave the clan, doesn't feel like being leader anymore, or if the other players simply express a desire to replace a leader, another member will take their place. Most clan leaders usually have the ability to delete players from the clan, although this is not always the case.
oining a clan places one within a social network which provides access to resources, knowledge, and help needed to accomplish many game related goals. In addition, banding together with like-minded players seems to fulfill a human desire for social interaction. Taken together, these two factors can vastly enhance the gameplay experience of many players.
Some clans focus on competition and may arrange recruitment, scrimmages and training sessions to reach their goals. For example, some clans only recruit skilled players who they think can help their clan win matches. It is common for a prospective clan member to be asked to prove their skill in a game, by taking a series of tests against current clan members in a private server. Some teams will also only recruit players who have a proven history with other successful teams, in order to prevent cheaters from joining their team.
Belonging to a clan can enhance a player's game experience by providing them with a group of familiar people with whom they can interact. In some clans, the stated purpose of the group is to talk to each other than simply enjoy playing. When clans are not competing in formal matches, they often operate a looser, more relaxed server for their members and the public to play in.
Clans in first-person shooters
These games initially only offered "deathmatch" play, where gameplay is focused solely on killing the characters of the other players. The popularity of clans and team-based versions of deathmatch led to the design of objective-based team games such as capture the flag.
Due to the relatively unorganized structure of first-person shooter games the players tend to take on the organization themselves. This has led to the genre generating a large number of websites to help organize these gaming communities as well as the vast number of different styles of clans in these games. Some clans are large and have loose associations with each other and may only play on public servers with each other for social reasons. At the other end of the spectrum other clans may prefer to keep a small, tight team of players and concentrate on playing competitively against other clans in arranged matches and possibly in leagues. While the clan itself provides the social element in larger clans, the social aspect for the smaller, more competitive clans comes more from interaction with other clans.
Competition between clans is common but also takes many forms. Some clans have been known to be content with playing against each other on public servers, while others organize matches with other clans. Notably, some take this further and take part in leagues and tournaments. Some clans may even "war" with each other, using their members for surprise "attacks" on the other clan's servers. A lot of the time this is purely for fun but some of these leagues and tournaments have become fiercely competitive to the extent that practice and planning will become highly organized. This kind of competition is starting to be referred to as electronic sports (e-sports), though there are many other similar terms for this. E-sports can be purely amateur over the Internet or for large cash prizes on local area networks. This kind of competition also applies to other genres, particularly strategy games.
Many clans have their own private servers to play their game of choice on. These are most handy for holding practice matches against other clans and other forms of practice. Private servers are also convenient since they do not have problems that plague public servers, such as griefers and other behavior that is the gaming equivalent of the anti-social behavior when people have anonymity over the Internet such as spamming and trolling on message boards and chat rooms. As a side note, there are even clans who set up just to perpetuate this kind of abuse.
The larger a clan gets the more hierarchical the organizational structure tends to become. Usually there is at least a clan leader, in small teams a clan leader may only be a team captain heading the team in game and initiating discussions to solve problems. In larger clans the leader is often responsible for the entirety of organizing the clan, with a number of basic members. If the clan expands, experienced members are usually promoted and are delegated various tasks such as recruiting, disciplining rule-breakers, member training, webpage maintenance, and others. Certain clans take this type of organization to a higher level where they emulate the structure (and sometimes name) of a military unit with specific ranks, positions, and groups. These clans are usually found in shooter or MMORPG games and are referred to as realism units.
In some games, players show they are a member of a clan by using a unique tag which takes the form of a prefix or suffix "tag". Tags are often enclosed in brackets or symbols and colored differently if the game allows it. In some clans, there is also a prefix/suffix, which would include your clan rank or status. An example would be: Name[clan name], Name(clan name), [clan name]name, or (clan name)name.
In computer and video gaming, a clan or a guild is a group of players that play online games together. They may play against other clans via matches or challenges, also known as scrims (scrimmages) and wars. A clan's objective can vary from having fun in a competitive environment or participating in more serious tournaments and clan wars.
There are usually different ranks and positions within any clan. A small clan usually has a single leader, but a bigger group will have two or sometimes more. There may also be co-leaders, who are usually the main leader's closest friends or trusted members. The rest of the players are simply the regular members. Some very large clans have a council of leaders, usually composed of the clan's founders and other members who have served for an extended period of time. If a leader decides to leave the clan, doesn't feel like being leader anymore, or if the other players simply express a desire to replace a leader, another member will take their place. Most clan leaders usually have the ability to delete players from the clan, although this is not always the case.
oining a clan places one within a social network which provides access to resources, knowledge, and help needed to accomplish many game related goals. In addition, banding together with like-minded players seems to fulfill a human desire for social interaction. Taken together, these two factors can vastly enhance the gameplay experience of many players.
Some clans focus on competition and may arrange recruitment, scrimmages and training sessions to reach their goals. For example, some clans only recruit skilled players who they think can help their clan win matches. It is common for a prospective clan member to be asked to prove their skill in a game, by taking a series of tests against current clan members in a private server. Some teams will also only recruit players who have a proven history with other successful teams, in order to prevent cheaters from joining their team.
Belonging to a clan can enhance a player's game experience by providing them with a group of familiar people with whom they can interact. In some clans, the stated purpose of the group is to talk to each other than simply enjoy playing. When clans are not competing in formal matches, they often operate a looser, more relaxed server for their members and the public to play in.
Clans in first-person shooters
These games initially only offered "deathmatch" play, where gameplay is focused solely on killing the characters of the other players. The popularity of clans and team-based versions of deathmatch led to the design of objective-based team games such as capture the flag.
Due to the relatively unorganized structure of first-person shooter games the players tend to take on the organization themselves. This has led to the genre generating a large number of websites to help organize these gaming communities as well as the vast number of different styles of clans in these games. Some clans are large and have loose associations with each other and may only play on public servers with each other for social reasons. At the other end of the spectrum other clans may prefer to keep a small, tight team of players and concentrate on playing competitively against other clans in arranged matches and possibly in leagues. While the clan itself provides the social element in larger clans, the social aspect for the smaller, more competitive clans comes more from interaction with other clans.
Competition between clans is common but also takes many forms. Some clans have been known to be content with playing against each other on public servers, while others organize matches with other clans. Notably, some take this further and take part in leagues and tournaments. Some clans may even "war" with each other, using their members for surprise "attacks" on the other clan's servers. A lot of the time this is purely for fun but some of these leagues and tournaments have become fiercely competitive to the extent that practice and planning will become highly organized. This kind of competition is starting to be referred to as electronic sports (e-sports), though there are many other similar terms for this. E-sports can be purely amateur over the Internet or for large cash prizes on local area networks. This kind of competition also applies to other genres, particularly strategy games.
Many clans have their own private servers to play their game of choice on. These are most handy for holding practice matches against other clans and other forms of practice. Private servers are also convenient since they do not have problems that plague public servers, such as griefers and other behavior that is the gaming equivalent of the anti-social behavior when people have anonymity over the Internet such as spamming and trolling on message boards and chat rooms. As a side note, there are even clans who set up just to perpetuate this kind of abuse.
The larger a clan gets the more hierarchical the organizational structure tends to become. Usually there is at least a clan leader, in small teams a clan leader may only be a team captain heading the team in game and initiating discussions to solve problems. In larger clans the leader is often responsible for the entirety of organizing the clan, with a number of basic members. If the clan expands, experienced members are usually promoted and are delegated various tasks such as recruiting, disciplining rule-breakers, member training, webpage maintenance, and others. Certain clans take this type of organization to a higher level where they emulate the structure (and sometimes name) of a military unit with specific ranks, positions, and groups. These clans are usually found in shooter or MMORPG games and are referred to as realism units.
In some games, players show they are a member of a clan by using a unique tag which takes the form of a prefix or suffix "tag". Tags are often enclosed in brackets or symbols and colored differently if the game allows it. In some clans, there is also a prefix/suffix, which would include your clan rank or status. An example would be: Name[clan name], Name(clan name), [clan name]name, or (clan name)name.
