Friday, June 30, 2006

Sacred Templars Vs Divine Forces

The scene is set.

Sacred Templars start to muster for a PK trip and Divine Forces have already been out pking and have large options of around 270 (90 players). Sacred Templars pull together 210opts (70 players) and know that Divine Forces are out in the wild. A request for a planned run-in is made and subsequently accepted. Returning was permitted and no boundaries had been set. Below is one of the options pictures for Divine Forces and at this time I do not have any starting opts pictures for Sacred Templars.

Divine Forces Starting Options

Sacred Templars march into the battlefield and rush the waiting Divine Forces Clan. Immediately, Sacred Templars are scattered and disorganised due to being spread out by marching in the way they had. Divine Forces quickly get into the swing of things and are piling people quite effectively and managing to keep their attacking groups limited to about 2 main calling piles.

Sacred Templars ranks spread outThe battle starts to spread out and there are many Sacred Templars walking around looking for a target to attack as they have chased a Divine Forces member east, then chased them west and then east again. The signs look ominous for the Sacred Templars - defeat is inevitable on this occasion as the initial attacks left the templar forces spread far and wide.

Sacred Templars still spread outThe green dots in these 3 pictures represent Sacred Templar members. As can be seen in the first two pictures, Divine Forces appear to have much greater control over their organisation, subsequently appearing more effective in picking off opponents.
However, the pictures are not 100% accurate, not all clan members are visible as green dots due to having their private chat off.

How Piling should lookThis final picture shows more what battles normally appear to be - close knit groups of friends working together to try and successfully overcome all foes in front of them. During this particular encounter, there were not many moments where either clan showed full control over their actions.

On this occasion though, Divine Forces did hold their ranks tighter and as a result duely claimed victory.

The Victory celebrations can be seen in full flow below at Edgeville Bank after the Divine Forces Clan has returned from the Wilderness.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

What makes a clan successful?

Ultimately, depending on other people for success is an inherent flaw in the clan system. It is a flaw because of the diversity of the people coming together and the various time zones that players belong to.

Ideally, a successful clan would be one that displays complete trust in all of its members and can always rely on activity when it is needed most - as a display of strength.

Many clans rise and fall within Runescape due to the voltatile nature of many of the leaders. The major downfall for many may be the leader itself who can display an ego problem, a problem with managing people or simply cluelessness and the inability to make key decisions.

Successful clans generally display similar traits:

1. A strong leader always prepared to make decisions in the interests of the clan
2. A loyal group of friends that will always help defend a friend
3. An enjoyment of wilderness PK trips and battles
4. Generally abiding by Jagex Rules - which helps control the turnover
5. Highly active members willing to attend both PK events and non-pk events

Of course, there are many other factors that are included when considering what makes a clan successful. I have simply stated a few that I believe are common to many of the top clans. If you feel there are any noteworthy aspects left out then feel free to comment and I can later amend the list to include it.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Runescape Clan Ranks - June 2006

1. DI - Damage Incorporated
2. DS - Dark Slayer
3. RSD - Runescape Dinasty
4. The - The Clan
5. Gladz - The Gladiatorz
6. ST - Sacred Templars
7. TRWF - The Runescape Warhungers Federation
8. Corr - Corruption
9. DF - Divine Forces
10. MK - Mystic Knights

This is my opinion of the current top 10 in the Runescape World.

There are some noted exceptions and mainly Hostile Alliance has been excluded as I do not know enough about them although I am aware they can muster quite high numbers of players on occasions. Time will tell if they make it into the top 10.

Discuss who your top 10 would be or who deserves to be in the top 10.

Areas to judge when making your decision are:
1. Numbers of players
2. Activity of players
3. War results
4. Normal Pk battles
5. Overall Attitude of members within the clan.