Joining clans from the academy

There was a big discussion on OOC about this topic this afternoon, so I thought I’d turn it to the forums for your insight.

Should clan joining from the academy be an opt-out for clan leaders?
Should it just be required, period (except for special circumstances)?
Should it be required for major clans?

I don’t think it would be a bad idea for it to be the default for every clan. If the clan leader doesn’t really want it, they can opt out. Hidden clans and clans with strict resignation policies would need to be counted out so that newbies don’t join and then decide they don’t like it and leave and get permed for it.

It should be up to the leaders.

Forcing newbies on people that don’t want them will just make a bitter experience for everyone. The leaders because they don’t want to deal with it, the newbies because they’ll feel like a third wheel.

I agree that it should be up to the leaders, but I think the option should always be there. For instance, if you want to shore up numbers in your clans, then having join from academy helps. And if you have people with the time to train newbies, it can be a good experience. But if your a small clan and don’t want tons of people, you should be able to opt-out.

Like with everything, I can see problems. Making it mandatory for major clans would just cause too many problems, even though I agree with it. In short, joining clans from the academy should be default, but the clan leader should be able to opt-out in my opinion.

I think it should be required for major clans.

i think it should be required for major clans, but i can see that being very bad for them… i experienced a troll who kept making different characters just to fuck with my clan in one way or another, but even though it was obvious it was them there was nothing that could really be done in character because it was a different person. maybe if it was required for major clans to be open in the academy, a 3(?) character limit should be put on your account for being clannable to avoid something like that happening again

not to mention to avoid overload from the academy anyway, too

Compromise: Require it for major clans with the option to apply for an opt-out with proper justification. Minor clans can opt-in, but are not required. To be honest, whether or not a clan is joinable from the academy isn’t going to make any difference whatsoever in major/minor clans getting an influx of newbies/asshats. The only difference is that maybe players can regulate it themselves by picking and choosing who they induct, but just based on what I’ve seen in past timelines, that doesn’t do anything either to stem the influx. So just take it where you get it.

Perhaps make academy-joining mandatory for major clans with a compromise that characters who join from the academy get like.. a special mark on the roster (similar to the red *) for 2 weeks, in order to help mitigate the effect of newbies potentially joining clans with harsh resignation policies, and then not liking it.

Maybe, in addition, have the description in the clan join room provide a decent description of what the clan is and what the rules for leaving are.

I agree with a lot of this. I think major clans should have to let people join. I do, however, think that we need to make sure newbies are absolutely sure of what they’re getting into. Make them type an ‘I agree’ or something else to show that they’ve, in fact, read the description and that they understand if they leave they might be subject to perming.

I like Fishy’s idea to be honest, also so what if there’s a newbie in the clan? It should be the clan leaders responsibility AS a major person in the timeline to be able to teach someone… Bottom line, I think it should be required for major and opt in/out for minor

Exactly, division heads, I mean look at it this way, the Emperor didn’t get to know EVERY SINGLE last one of his stormtroopers did he?

Mandatory is a stupid idea. All it does it cause problems. Leave it as a choice to the clan leader to talk about with the clan or make as a choice. Forcing it only causes a dislike for the people who joined that way.

But at the same time I can see why they would want it to be up to the leaders discretion