There was a post earlier about clan systems and it really got me thinking about Halo 4 clan support. Mainly, I have some ideas, and I want to know how you feel about them as an individual. If you have something to contribute, please do so.
I have a few parts to the clan system that I will list below but here is the basics. Clans are made up of a creator, officials, and assorted ranks. Clans want to become successful by collecting stature points. These stature points would be earned through various activities including all aspects of the game. I will explain this later. Clans compete against one another by attempting to achieve the highest stature point ranking. This gives officials of the clan an incentive to grow the group, and seek the best individuals of the community.
MATCHMAKING SUPPORT:
Halo 2 taught a lot of lessons about clan systems, some good some bad. Halo 2 did a great job of showing how a clan should be organized, but there is still a lot of innovation to be had. If it were me designing a clan system that is geared for matchmaking, it would go as such.
Clan matches- These are matches that are set up by clan officials, through an in game feature that ranks teams against one another. Clan matches contribute to a large “league” in which anyone who plays clan matches competitively will compete in. Clans could have one official team, who would compete for the clan, and any number of other unofficial teams. The rosters for teams would be moderated by clan officials, who would want to make the best team possible by recruiting good players. Clan matches bring a sense of team play and competitiveness to the game that might not otherwise exist. Matches would be recorded, and teams would be ranked throughout the course of a season. I know this sounds a bit like the reach arena, but with the use of clans, it would be much better. At the end of a season, there would be play offs in which the top ranked teams are set up into a bracket and will play for that season’s title. Not only could clans earn bragging rights and stature points for having great players, they could also earn prizes of some kind that would be distributed by 343. To me, this is an obviously great addition to the game, and I’m sure that there could be even more innovation just in multiplayer alone.
FORGE SUPPORT: This is where things could get VERY interesting. Not only would clan officials want to collect great conventional players, they would also want to find great forgers in order to further there group. Forge contests could easily be implemented into the game. Contests could require certain characteristics of a map, and forgers would make the best map possible while meeting those requirments. Clans would attempt to acquire the best forgers in order to win more contests for the group.
Also, by indluding forge support in the clan system, a clan would come into a great abundance of maps for the group to play on, and the clan could even host a collective file share and spotlight that officials would moderate by choosing the best content in the clan.