EPTI've had a desire stuck somewhere back in my mind for some time now and I can't but come out with it. The idea is a rather bold one and it might not succeed, seeing there are some similar projects running and my previous experience with such projects. However, this is the TL and I believe everything is possible, so why not give it a shot?
![[image loading]](http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/7305/stcl.jpg)
What is it?
It's a gaming club mainly for all the beginners that just joined TL/iCCup for the first time, the people that get roflstomped every single game. Or even clanless players that were around for some time, couldn't get that much better and still haven't found the right circle of people to fit in. So basically, it's for people like me. We don't necessarily want to be the best, we just want to enjoy the game at least on some level while having a closer circle of friends.
Why?
There's the practice partner thread, there's the iCCup Training Program and there's plenty of guides and people willing to help. I tried all these and I made a few good fellas to play with and they are all really helpful and nice. Is this really needed?
Unfortunately, most of the time it's like one of my friend is from Serbia, the other is Hungarian, and they don't know each other, actually they tend to play with another circle of players and for someone like me, not knowing anyone besides playing a few games with them, it's rather difficult to try and fit in or to get all the people I know together. And although I enjoy playing and talking to all these guys, I'm kinda missing the good old clan vibe to it, where everyone knows each other, they tease each other, share their replays etc. I hope I'm not the only one.
You could say - why not join a clan? Well, I don't know of many clans that hire E rank players. Maybe I'm wrong here and this blog has no real foundation. I searched a bit and couldn't find anything. Also the club is intended to be more about having fun than fighting others, although this not out of the question.
How would it work?
The gaming club would basically work much alike e.g. the iCCup Training Program, but would also have the clan feel to it - you would have introduce yourself to the club, you would have to meet all the players, play them and only then could you be accepted. Maybe we'd use tags as well. I thought of a name "Stairway To C", which I quite like, although it doesn't tell you that much about the real purpose of this club.
The club would be open to players regardless their skill level, the C doesn't represent the rank as much as it says "We don't take the game too seriously, it's all about fun but no reason for not trying to get better!" (and that I'm a Zeppelin fan). Although obviously if you're an A level player, you probably wouldn't get to play that many games against E players - simply because they wouldn't be interested. But I doubt that would happen too often. I would expect players from both ends of the skill spectrum to leave after some time, creating a rather balanced community of say 20 people, or 2 or 3 smaller groups of people around E, D, C skill? Maybe I exaggerate, maybe it's the other way around. We'll never know until we try.
Keep in mind - everyone would have to be a part of the gaming club - and would be prohibited from joining another clan unless he decide to leave the club. That's just to eliminate the state when there's 50 people but noone knows each other - a typical training program community. At least in my eyes and my experience.
What's the difference?
What's the difference between this and a regular circle of people for instance from the same country that share a channel, play each other, go through their games, watch the pro scene (that I came across on iCCup) although they're not in a clan?
Well, basically none! It's just another way of creating such a circle for people that don't have that possibility or don't only want to meet people from the same country. It's pretty much the same as the iCCup training program, however it should provide a more comfortable environment for all the players involved - basically, just so you don't feel like an outlander begging for help, but rather like coming home whenever you enter the Abyss.
Where's the problem?
This is exclusively hypothetical stuff that's been on my mind for a month or two. I haven't taken any steps whatsoever to make this happen or told anyone from the people I sometimes play with. So basically at this point I'm alone and I'm just throwing this out there in case there's anyone else that would be interested. Then I would consider myself responsible and try my best to make it happen. Otherwise there's no point anyway.
If you think this is a worthless idea, just say it. If you have an advice/suggestion, or even if something like this already exists and I don't know (which I know is possible), let me know!
Also please note that I haven't really thought this far ahead, the reality might be different from the above and I understand that. I also have no experience whatsoever concerning iCCup and creating clans, channels and whatnot (if we were to do that.). I couldn't bother myself with this stuff so prematurely. Either way, this is what I had in mind and what I needed to let out.
I'll be thankful for any opinions. If you would consider joining such a club, let me know. This is just a blog to scan the fields. If there's any people interested, I might make a forum post in the BW section and on iCCup (if we feel like it). Also, the name of the club is naturally a completely open matter, I don't care at all what it's called. We might vote on that.
Finally a poll, although I doubt I'll get a lot of votes, if any... At least I tried creating one for the first time :-)
Poll: The gaming club for clanless:
Sounds nice, I would consider joining. (14)
67%
I don't care, I just like voting in polls. (5)
24%
Sounds nice, but I won't join. (2)
10%
Sounds bad, but I have a better idea. (0)
0%
Sounds terrible, sorry. (0)
0%
21 total votes
I don't care, I just like voting in polls. (5)
Sounds nice, but I won't join. (2)
Sounds bad, but I have a better idea. (0)
Sounds terrible, sorry. (0)
21 total votes
Your vote: The gaming club for clanless:
(Vote): Sounds nice, I would consider joining.
(Vote): Sounds nice, but I won't join.
(Vote): Sounds bad, but I have a better idea.
(Vote): Sounds terrible, sorry.
(Vote): I don't care, I just like voting in polls.
UPDATE: Turns out there's already such a movement and it's flourishing. Everyone interested go check this thread for more info: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=195780
