So you want to create a Clan?

If this is you, please read these guidelines! 

Clans are a great way to gather friends and like-minded people on Stryda to play and compete. It is like creating a little community of your own.

As incredible as this is, it is also vital that all Clans adhere to the following:

• Community Code of Conduct (Link)

• It's also good to have our Terms of Service (Link) in your mind.

These are here for you to lean on and empower you when it comes to managing situations that may occur in your Clan.

Note: While all players on our platform must follow the TOS, we do not expect you as a Clan Leader to monitor your Clan for things that might break our TOS (we will take care of that). However, if you or other Clan members violate them, it could lead to moderation, bands, and more, e.g., its removal.  

Why is this important?
We do not want to breathe down your neck constantly and wish to encourage self-managed Clans. 

• It's up to you and the other Clan members how you want it to bet, but it is vital to maintain these standards.

All this is in place to ensure that we keep everything wholesome, positive, and as friendly as possible to protect people's individuality and privacy.

As gamers, you likely know that communities come in many shapes and sizes, with people from various walks of life with other passions and opinions. That can mean people may not see eye to eye or seek to disrupt and create problems on purpose in worst-case scenarios.

To help you as a Clan Leader nurture positive, healthy environments, you have some additional perks to achieve this. Read on to find out what those are! 

Create an Open or Closed Clan.

When creating a Clan, you have two options: create an Open or Closed Clan.

• Open Clans means anyone can join. 

• Closed Clans mean only applications you accept or those you send an invite link to can join. 

There are benefits to picking either option. 

Open Clans:

• Fill up your Clan faster

• No need to accept applications or invite people yourself. 

• More accessible for other Stryda players to join

• Opportunity to meet lots of new people.

While your friends can join your open Clan, in the beginning, it may result in you needing to get to know everyone before deciding if they are the right fit for your clan.

Closed Clans: 

• You have more control over who can join.

  • People interested in joining your Clan can apply, and you will receive a notification when this happens. 

  • You can review their profile and decide whether to accept them or not. 

  • You can send an invite link to specific people you wish to join. 

This way, you can invite friends or people you know and trust, but you may have a smaller, tight-knit Clan and meet fewer new people. 

Managing your Clan

Whether you choose to have an Open or Closed Clan, you and only you will have the power to take the following actions.

We may update who can take these actions in future updates, allowing you to provide permissions to your most trusted Clan members, but for now, you are the only one that can take them. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility!

Delete messages from Clan Chat.

This feature is in place to remove messages that you do not want in your Clan chat. Please refer to our Community Code of Conduct to assist you with what you should consider for your Clan chat. 

However, we have zero tolerance for the following, and we feel that all Clan Leaders should too:

• Discrimination

• Toxicity

• Unlawful content

• NSFW content

• Violation of Privacy

For additional information about your privacy and how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy (link)

Resolving arguments and disputes

It's the internet, so arguments and disputes will happen. It is up to you to decide how you want to handle those. However, we recommend that if you witness such behavior,

• You ask those involved to step away/stop, especially if it's getting out of hand.

• The next step would be to delete messages related to the argument.

• Follow up by removing those members from the Clan if anyone ignores your requests.
  
  

If a Clan member asks you to remove something from the chat, it is usually best to do so, especially if it is offensive or something from our zero-tolerance rules. Not doing so could result in moderation from us and further action against you, individuals in your Clan, or your Clan as a whole.

Regarding swearing and cursing  

When it comes to swearing, we get that it happens. Still, in an ideal world, we would prefer it kept to a minimum; however, when such words get used to attack or harass an individual directly, it crosses the line from colorful language to breaking our guidelines.

It is also essential in cases where a member of your Clan could be considered a minor. While you may not be aware of this, and it's not your responsibility to know this, it's good to keep in mind this part of our Community Code of Conduct:

From Point 4: No NSFW content

“...while our platform is for players 16 years or older, and we do what we can to prevent minors from undue access to Stryda, there is always the possibility that someone underage could be exposed to our community spaces. If a word you want to use is commonly considered inappropriate for a minor, we advise steering clear of it to protect everyone.”

IMPORTANT: We can review all messages in Clan chat. We can also see those that get deleted; if you, as a Clan Leader, engage in behavior that goes against our guidelines, deleting such messages will not protect you from the consequences if reported to us.

“Kick” Clan Members

Depending on the kind of rules you have for your Clan, there may be times when you want to “Kick” people from it. For example:

Disruptive Clan members

There could be a situation where you have exceptionally disruptive Clan members constantly posting content that goes against our guidelines or generally brings down the positive vibes and the goals you are working towards as a Clan.

Removing them from your Clan is probably best if talking to them has not worked. You can also report these individuals to us via Customer Support.

Please use this feature responsibility and in fairness. While it is ultimately up to you who remains in your Clan, 

• Try to give all members a chance. 

• Allow them to show they are worthy of being part of it before making rash decisions. 

Randomly kicking people for no reason may lead to them having a bad experience on Stryda. 

Inactive members in your Clan

You may notice that some Clan members who

• Not active for several days/weeks.

• Do not participate in Clan Ladders or other group activities.

In that case, you may want a rule about how active your members are and can remove those that aren't active over a specific time frame to allow new members to join so you can keep the Clan as engaged as possible and get the most out of Clan Ladders.

The reporting process for Clan Members

Below is the process we advise all Clans members to follow if they are subject to harassment or witness unsavory behavior in your Clan. You must be aware of these as your Clan members will rely on you to moderate anything that goes against our Community Code of Conduct:

• Speak to your Clan Leader, who can delete such messages or kick members from the Clan. 

• If the Leader refuses to do so or is part of the problem, create a ticket with Customer Support(link)

• Once you have made a report, we recommend leaving the Clan in question and trying to find one with more like-minded people.

• So that we can act as efficiently and accurately as possible on reports made to us, please read the detailed description of how to make a report.

Remember, not providing the required information makes it hard for us to act and could be considered an attempt to waste our time or a form of false reporting. If your claim is legitimate, you must provide us with all the information required.

A note on false reporting

Players who create false reports as harassment or griefing to try and get innocent players on our platform penalized or banned from Stryda will be subject to the same consequences as others who violate our guidelines and Terms and Conditions. It applies to reports concerning Clan chat and false claims of cheating/breaking the rules of our platform.

What should I, as Clan leader, do in situations that concern me?

If you witness anything in your Clan chat that concerns you: 

• As already outlined, you can delete messages and kick individual members from the Clan to ensure its safety. 

However, there may be times when situations arise that you feel necessary to report to us, 

• especially if it could be a problem for Stryda (e.g., suspicious users posting strange links or content from adult or harmful websites).

We need to know about these to take preventative measures against them. 

• In these instances, we recommend you follow the same reporting procedure outlined above.

We ask this so that the Community and Support teams can review it and take the correct action.

Consequences of not following our Code of Conduct and Terms and Conditions

When signing up for our platform, 

• all players agree to our terms and conditions and the consequences of breaking them; this includes abiding by our community Codes of Conduct when interacting in those spaces.

Repeated behavior in opposition to these guidelines or our Terms and Conditions can result in your account being suspended or permanently banned.