Why would I join a clan?

For reasons that are not obvious to me, I have received an invitation to join a clan.

I consider that invitation to be private and will be discreet regarding it, I was hoping for some guidance from the community at large about why (and why not) people join clans.

What is the motivation?

What is the desired objective for the individual?

What does a clan offer beyond normal play?


I would also be interested in hearing what people have liked (and not liked) about being in a clan.


Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Hey, Squirrels!

I don't know, if i'm going to answer you question by question here, since it would be tough. Although i can tell a few things from my own experience.
First of all, the tips, tricks and studying. Most of the clans have private matches from time to time, to improve in some aspects of the game with different strategies. Also, clans usually have their own guides about how to play different strategies and what are the best suitable countries and options (like the amount of starting cash) for them. I can say that my game has improved a bunch because of tips and tricks i've found and gotten during games.
Second of all, clan wars. Usually the best people in the clan get to participate in a clan war (call it a CW). So if you show your good side of your play, you might find yourself battleing with some of the best players in other clans of Afterwind. That can get you reputation amongst other people, if you play well and also, new friends.
Thirdly, i'd like to speak about people. I've found some amazing people during my stay in the clan that i'm at right now. What i like about them is that i can chat freely about stuff, without having to worry i'd be blamed on speaking nonsense or not talking strictly about Afterwind. And most clans have those people you can just have a normal chat with, like you'd be chatting with your irl friends.
The only thing i really hate ... timezones :S I mostly can't be on, when my friends from across the Atlantic are :/
But that's really, the only thing. Loving everything else.

Hi Brandreas,

Thanks for the response. The training is what I would expect a clan to provide; it is good to hear that there are clans doing that.

The opportunity for be part of a clan war (CW) is intriguing but given that my current level of play is somewhere around noob+, I doubt that I would be brought in to a CW game.

I have a informal group of players that I can practice various strategies with so that is not a huge value.

The hierarchy and leadership parts of a clan don't appeal to me. I have an aversion to granting others the right to give orders to me. I have spend too many decades training junior officers to look forward to it as part of a game. Honestly, at this point in my life, I would be more inclined to frag anything less than excellent leadership rather than waste my time counselling yet another Patton wannabe on how to lead people.

As for the clan that extend the invitation, that is no longer an issue.

Apparently my decision to conduct research into clans, in general, and that clan in particular, has caused the invitation to be rescinded. It made me wonder what their ideal candidate is if one who asks questions is summarily uninvited. Would they prefer only recruits who mindlessly follow? Would I want to be part of group where the leadership selects mindless followers? Contemplating being a foot soldier along side a bunch of mindless drones is not a pleasant thing.

Without naming names, I think I can say that I will hold out for a clan whose competency rating has improved beyond the generic "1" that a clan starts with. Perhaps I may never receive an invite but I prefer to own my failures, not other peoples failures. If that invite never materializes, I would rather start a clan to join one that already sucks.

As for the clan that was nice enough to extend the invitation, and then withdraw it, rest assured that I bear you no ill will. You have exposed in interesting aspect of the game to me and, in time, we may meet on that battlefield.

From what I've seen of you, you only play casual games so really a cln has no bonus for you (training in clans are for quick games usually, casual is a much different gameplay style). Honestly I see no benefit to joining one besides the cln forums, but I doubt many are active. You could maybe consider making your own coalition, I know there are no casual game oriented coalitions, I can help you out since I have 40k SP available with nothing to spend it on.

also don't be afraid to put names out there, It's a small community I'm betting most people already know who sent you the invitation : )

P.S I'm not 100% sure you play only casual games, but If not then there is a lot of value from a coalition if you do happen to play quick games frequently. (I can list some if you happen to respond saying you do play quick games)

I'm almost exclusive to casual games. I don't have large blocks of time to play at once but can do 30 minutes on a daily basis. My "button pushing" skill is not as fast as it could be so the quick games are rather frustrating for me. Until I have learned the maps, the units, the strategies and the tactics, I don't expect to be worth a warm bucket of spit at a quick game.

I would rather not reveal what I consider to be an offer made in confidence. They deserve better than that and I would prefer not to burn any bridges. I have not provided enough (mis?) information to make it easy for anyone to be certain. That is where I plan to leave it.

If there is no clan concentrating in casual games and this game retains my interest, it may be interesting to do a "casual game only" clan.

Hello, there is many good things in an clan u get the chance to communicate with people all over the world.
Casual is not the most famous things in a clan, u can also feel free to talk to the others in the clan.

Without a clan the game comes boring, not that it isnt at a clan, but there will go some time before it begins to get boring cause u have people to speak with. Just my opinion.

So joining a clan is for communication and Clan wars? and what are usual Ranks in CWs? can i play Clan Wars with my current Rank or should i wait untill i am rank 5,6 whatever?

Rank doesn't matter for CW's. Everybody can join a coalition and start playing CW's. However, most coalitions have a 'minimum rank' before you can join them. If you check the coalition page, then you can see 'Joining (req. rank)', witch tells you how you can join and what the minimum rank is to join. If you just started with the game, there are some 'training coalitions' that are helping new players to learn tactics.
These are the ways for joining:
- Free for all: Any AW member can join this coalition
- Applications: You can apply to join this coalition, officers or clanleaders can accept/reject this.
- Invitations: You can only join this coalition, if you are invited by one of the clanleaders or officers.