The JKA Clan Critique Collection

[Mog]

Well, when I signed up on the JAWA homepage and introduced myself, I mention that JAWA had a few good and bad things going for it. SiLink was curious about those bad characteristics so I decided that not only would I critique JAWA, but 3 of the biggest clans in JKA. So, here we are.

 

Before I continue, I should mention the layout of each critique. I will introduce the clan with their respective clan tags and whoever is the head honcho (or honchos), a short statement about the clan, then a "pros and cons" listing, with 3 points each.

 

So to start off, I'll go with the first clan: JAWA

 

 

(JAWA)

Leader: SiLink

 

Formed in 2004, JAWA still holds the title of being the largest clan in JKA. They also are heavy contributors towards the JKA community as a whole.

 

Pros

• Has a very large and active member base
  
• Hosts many community events with other major and minor clans
  
• Clansman & women are friendly and are not afraid to assist anyone in need
  

 

Cons

• The server rarely receives any outside traffic, besides their own clan members
  
• Policies such as No Swearing are looked down apon by the mature players of JKA (which are the majority)
  
• Despite their friendliness towards outsiders, they tend to leave them out of clan hosted events
  

 

|JP|

Leader: Made up of a contingent of High Council members, but was under the leadership of The Duke

 

JP was created in 2005 and was the outcome of several other failed clans, such as JoH. They are still one of the most highly rated clans in JKA.

 

 

Pros

• Their server is one of the most busiest in JKA, attracting many outside players
  
• The clan does an extremely good job in maintaining order on their server
  
• Members are friendly and fair to traffic
  

Cons

• The clan is quite isolated, and rarely takes part in JKA community events
  
• Range Banning is a common practice in the clan, but it's backfire can lead to conflict
  
• Their membership is large, but many of it's members are inactive
  

 

 

|EK|

Leader: Drako

 

EK is a fairly new clan from what I know (if anyone can help me get an exact date of their creation, that would be great), they have been successful so far and does have plenty of potential to becoming the most popular clan in JKA.

 

 

Pros

• Active in the JKA community
  
• Their server is quite busy during the prime hours
  
• Friendly clansman & women are always on hand to assist anyone in need
  

 

Cons

• The rules are not as strictly enforced as they should be
  
• Their have been times in which administrative abuse has taken place quite frequently in the clan
  
• Clan events are not open to outsiders, and if they are...outsiders are overshadowed by the clan
  

 

 

...And there you go, a listing of pros and cons of the "Big Three" of JKA.

 

Alright, now, if you as in the reader wish to critique a clan, that fine, but:

1. It must be in the same format as what I have done (you don't need to be accurate in the clan tags)
   
2. DO NOT use your personal hatred of a certain clan to simple be-little them, use clear and accurate points in both your pros and cons
   
3. DO NOT critique a clan that you are already a part of.
   

[MUG]

I'm just going to point out that a some of your Cons are in fact Pros in many peoples books, and likewise, some of your Pros are Cons.

[Mog]

I'm just going to point out that a some of your Cons are in fact Pros in many peoples books, and likewise, some of your Pros are Cons.

 

How so?

[Link]

(JAWA)

Leader: SiLink

 

Formed in 2004, JAWA still holds the title of being the largest clan in JKA. They also are heavy contributors towards the JKA community as a whole.

 

Pros

• Has a very large and active member base
  
• Hosts many community events with other major and minor clans
  
• Clansman & women are friendly and are not afraid to assist anyone in need
  

Cons

• The server rarely receives any outside traffic, besides their own clan members
  
• Policies such as No Swearing are looked down apon by the mature players of JKA (which are the majority)
  
• Despite their friendliness towards outsiders, they tend to leave them out of clan hosted events
  

 

 

I must say it is always interesting to see an outside perspective on JAWA whether I like or dislike what is being said. I'd like to thank you for the nice things you said about us, it's nice to know the hard work of (JAWA) members is visible to people outside our community.

 

I'd like to reply to your cons though but before I do I just want to make it clear that I'm very aware that JAWA has them and I'll never be able to please everyone.

 

If you're judging the past few weeks, then I'll agree the majority of our traffic has been clan members rather than visitors, definitely. However this is not the norm:

http://www.thejawacl...ges/f/ff/46.png

 

The above image was taken over the summer when we had quite possibly our largest amount of activity to date when we invited Criken and his friends over to film on our server (We heard he was interested in playing on JKA) for Criken's Fun House... BroTeamPill also came along. It was crazy but it gave us a huge amount of exposure, gaining 1 million YouTube views between the videos. This isn't really relevant to what you were talking about, however I thought it shown how much we try to branch out and get visitors even from the most unlikely of sources. I'll agree, the majority of our traffic are JAWA's, but that is usually because a lot of visitors end up applying after a few visits but to say we rarely receive outside traffic in general is very inaccurate.

 

I also probably wouldn't put people into classes of "non mature" and "mature" because it would come across as if you're saying JAWA's aren't mature because we don't allow swearing. There are a lot of mature players in (JAWA) who have played for many many years, there are also a lot of members who are over the age of 20 including myself. I swear outside the clan quite often however I don't do it on the server/forums mainly because there are kids around, same goes for more mature themes. We've had children as young as 4 play on our server and I've heard of similar stories on other servers as well, I just don't think it's appropriate to say/do these things in front of kids the same way you wouldn't (Hopefully) IRL... Before any one says it as well, I am very aware of the rating of JKA, but it doesn't excuse the fact that children do play the game. Is it the parents/guardians fault? Perhaps, but I'd rather not play the blame game if I can do something about it on JAWA.

 

In terms of hosting events for non JAWA's, we have bi-weekly JAWA School which is a large class (Ran by Zu and Xanatos) that is open to the public. We even have "progress bars" to mark visitors/members progress in their classes:

https://jkhub.org/images/Au5Tg.png

 

We also run regular CTF, Siege, TFFA as well as training in all 3 of those which is available to the public. Do we have more inner-clan events? Yes. Could we open them up to the public? Absolutely, but whilst this may be beneficial to visitors, it would give people less of a reason to join the clan. A lot of our exclusive events are very popular however we do have around 3-4 big events open to the public a week.

 

Just to throw it in here since it just finished 2 hours ago, our (JAWA) Ally Open Tournament #12 just finished which invites all our allies to our server for a huge tournament/set of fun events afterwards. See below for todays turnout:

Here

 

https://jkhub.org/images/lHy7a.jpg

 

I hope that's cleared up a few things, again I'd like to say that we're no where near perfect... but there are very good reasons why those cons exists.

 

 

I love the fact that there is so much diversity in terms of clans out there, for example I know I could probably never get MUG to agree to our server rules but there are plenty of other clans/servers out there that may cater for his needs. It's not a matter of who is right/wrong or who has cons/pros... As MUG said, those cons can be seen as pros, and the pros can be seen as cons... it entirely depends on the person and their way of playing.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Each person is entitled to their own opinions but this thread has the potential to stir up a good deal of conflict.

[Link]

Each person is entitled to their own opinions but this thread has the potential to stir up a good deal of conflict.

 

I hope not, but you're probably right. Criticism from an outside source is like gold dust because it's usually unbiased and truthful.

[MUG]

How so?

 

This:

I love the fact that there is so much diversity in terms of clans out there, for example I know I could probably never get MUG to agree to our server rules but there are plenty of other clans/servers out there that may cater for his needs. It's not a matter of who is right/wrong or who has cons/pros... As MUG said, those cons can be seen as pros, and the pros can be seen as cons... it entirely depends on the person and their way of playing.

 

There is a lot more to any server than what is "good" or "bad" about it, as everyone's idea of what makes a good server varies. Honestly I think the very concept of "reviewing" servers in this way is ridiculous. What would make far more sense is to list out features of servers and let people make up their own mind based on what they are after. For example "The server rarely receives any outside traffic, besides their own clan members" could very easily be a "Pro" in some peoples opinion, if they were after a more close-nit community rather than hordes of fresh faces.

[CrimsonStrife]

I don't play the game, and am therefore not affiliated with any clan...but I saw this, and while everyone is behaving as of now, given how clans have clashed in threads before...I will state this...I am watching this thread, and I am sure other staff will be as well, if not already...so

 

Behave yourself in here.

[Malkav]

@UP

Nice attitude. Assuming something is bound to happen doesn't come of as too friendly. But at least you're condemning an activity and not particular people, which is a very good thing. Also, oh look, another avatar to use AdBlock on.

 

As for the list, it really is quite pointless, as server choice pretty much relies on what kind of community you're after. Some guidelines could probably work, though it would be nice if those were based on statistics.

[eezstreet]

Here's the only one I can do with accuracy:

 

 

AOD

 

Pros:

- Large server, full of players usually

- People are usually friendly and are mature; aren't trolls

- Admins are on the server nearly all the time

 

Cons:

- Server is on DOTF 24/7, with no change in sight

- Rules are enforced sparingly, with some admins caring and others not; it's inconsistent

- Many members are inactive, and their events exclude outsiders

[KRWind]

I'm a little shocked that -[KR]- Isn't on this list. Allow me to add it.

 

 

KR

 

Pros

• Friendly member base.
• Moral-realistic attuned rules.
• Quite a few members who have the ability to use admin powers.
• Are genreal good at keeping order on the server.
• Mature populace (Most of the time.)

Cons

• Quite a few younger members.
• Plenty of immature traffic (Mainly due to the recent DDoS attacks)

[eezstreet]

Isn't it a bit biased for a clan to critique itself?

[therfiles]

I've been playing on KR a little, and I agree with Wind. It is a great server that is excellently run! But still...

 

Isn't it a bit biased for a clan to critique itself?

[Mog]

I'm a little shocked that -[KR]- Isn't on this list. Allow me to add it.

 

 

I didn't include KR cause at the time of writing...KR wasn't exactly popular.

[Futuza]

 

Policies such as No Swearing are looked down upon by the mature players of JKA (which are the majority)

See I think this is a positive, because being considered mature and swearing excessively is an oximoron in my opinion.

 

I'd have to agree with what some have said, a lot of these 'cons' listed by various people are extremely debatable.

 

 

What would make far more sense is to list out features of servers and let people make up their own mind based on what they are after.

This makes a lot of sense to me.