[Cspace]

Fifty six months since Masterstuff, Rylkan, and I originally burned down Lumbridge in the name of "SeeD" (what were we thinking?), we've gone a long way. We had the lofty goal of 64 members, which matched the largest publicized clan that we knew about at the time. We reached it, and then started making other goals. Members wanted to recruit, and we began to grow as an online community as well. Through various means we became known on the Runescape communities, and in-game held a variety of creative events that got a bit of attention. We started to grow rather quickly, and things were pretty good save the various minor difficulties (a couple wars, the Great Steel Crisis™, etc.).

It was in January of 2003 that another lofty goal was mentioned for the first time. "SeeD May Appear in Other Online Games". This was a fairly difficult goal to reach at the time, with most of our activity centered around Runescape and few real connections existing in other games.

Then in 2004 we had some difficulties. A "rebel" clan and other problems emerged, and the atmosphere got rather heavy. We had site-related progress, but most of the clan's development was slowed down. It was a test of our clan's strength, and we got through it. I've seen other clans disband as a result of less adversity.

Around 2005 things started to smell a little like 2003 again, except we had other goals. By this time, more SeeDs were getting tired of Runescape and more and more discussions were emerging about other games. The idea of SeeD going to more games than just Runescape was still floating around... Given the situation, it seemed like a good time to implement the old idea. Factions were born, and SeeD became a multi-game guild. This sparked more life into the community aspects of our site and broadened the scope of our guild.

In early 2006 we had some activity complaints. Through a merge requested by a clan in a situation much like our 2004, these complaints ceased, but were followed by some other conflicts that brought us back to where we were. The merge ended, things were peaceful, but we didn't really get anywhere.

So finally we get to August of 2006, generally our second-slowest month of the year... Everyone's ready to jump-start all activity concerns and woes.

Five minutes ago I had a venti frappuccino. Since five minutes ago, nothing much happened, but JGJTan's MSN notice is making me feel a little uneasy as it always does at 2:00 am. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. So I do my worry check... Not much going on. I think I'll finish posting this tonight.

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Ok, so that's a summary of where we're from. What do we have right now? We have a strong community, various factions, and Bigrat2. The problem is that we don't have much stuff happening in the factions (with a few exceptions). Most are exclusively recruiting from SeeD itself, so they're just getting the percentage of our activity that plays a certain game. Also, we have the misconception that we require a faction in a game for anything to happen there. Lastly our Runescape faction, SeeD's embodiment as it was for the majority of our clan's life, is being seriously undermined.

What's the solution? The same solution that we had to our activity problem three minutes after MoS, Rylkan, and I started calling the clan "SeeD" in 2001... The single most important agent of growth for a clan: Recruitment.

Promotion. Recruitment. Seizure. Whatever you want to call it, we need more of it for the factions to work.

It's easy, and if enough take a part in it, the clan can potentially take off. Not sure what it will take off though... Probably its boots. Oh wait. Scratch that, as our older members know, boots don't wear boots. Wait, what does the... Forget it. Caffeine is causing me to reason like the ATGC incarnation of Locke, and if I continue, this thread will surely lead to SeeD's untimely demise. I'll blame it on an avalanche. I saw avalanches on the Discovery Channel!

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Ok... Recruitment can be easy. Here are some ideas!

• Stick a "SeeD" tag in your MSN title, or any other custom names such as in shooters. Remember, SeeD is inter-game. We technically exist in all games, and factions are optional for activity to exist somewhere. Even if you don't know others who play a game you play, if you'd like to show that you belong to a guild, feel free to stick a tag there. [SeeD], >SeeD<, ^*SeeD*^, «<Š€êÐ>», etc... Whatever you think looks best.
• Place a link to us in signatures on other communities. We have a variety of images that can be used in the sigs section, and if you feel creative you can add your own.
• Try to make new members feel welcome when they come here. We have decent rankings on Google and other search engines, and have referrers elsewhere as well. We get visitors who are just browsing the internet for one thing or another. If they register, try to give a decent impression.
• Host events! An event is any gathering of SeeDs in a game. If you come to an event, try to get some attention! Events can be a great way to boost interest in a guild. Never turn down questions about what clan/guild you are in... If you do, you're turning down a potential member.
• If you feel ambitious, and really, seriously want to help your clan, it would be 110% awesome if you could post about us on other communities (where it's allowed). I cannot begin to express how much I appreciate this kind of help, even for the simplest of recruitment threads. Really, it's huge in my opinion, and if members start posting about SeeD, there will be a visible impact on the activity here. Again, it doesn't need to be complicated... And remember, there's a pinned thread here with a generic thread for use on RS sites if you wish to use it.
• Simple, but may as well say it... Ask your real-life or in-game friends to check out SeeD.
• Chuck a PBJ sandwich at Rylkan whenever you see him. His reaction will surely be inspirational to all.

If our early members never recruited for SeeD, we wouldn't be where we are today. For those who have been around a while and know SeeD, remember that the associations and friends that were made, the stuff we had going in and out of games, and everything that has happened or been made available here would not be a part of the present. Both the bad from which we learn, and the good for which we strive. The timeline would be cut off somewhere in the middle of the first bit of my post, and for many, you wouldn't even be a part of it to begin with.

If anything, we owe it to ourselves to reach our next goal. Let's begin another chapter... Not to rebuild, but to grow. Simply to grow, to succeed, and also to keep the SeeD "flavor" going. Some say it's a small clan feel that transcends our actual size, but I think it tastes more like mint. We all have our views I guess.


Let's build on what was already built, and continue to make SeeD... Your clan... The ideal clan. A year from now, what will you make the timeline say about today? How will you be remembered by current and future members, and what can you do to make tomorrow's SeeD better than today?

I have the tools ready, a caffeinated drink on hand, and am ready to build something. Who is with me?

[Nuu™™]

I am with you, good sir! Your inspirational words and your motivational avalanches have stimulated me into recruitment drive! I shall be posting across the AoE boards that are sporadically positioned across the myriad internets! That is...unless I don't get distracted by lotpw...

[Cspace]

I really appreciate that, and hopefully everyone realizes how much help such promotion is when it comes to the topic of activity here.

If there's anything I can do to assist the AoE faction, such as with subforums or whatever else, please let me know... And I still play the game, too. If you have events that I can attend, I'll be there

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For many gaming clans it is up to the members to make them worthwhile, and to work on activity collectively. I can do a bit, such as getting us on various directories and working out other means to increase search engine rankings and whatnot. I've been working on this a bit, however it still won't have the impact of our members bringing actual recruitment to various places (or even simply through word-of-mouth). If everyone did a little bit, we can definitely accomplish a lot. While we don't have a multi-clan rule, for those who belong to other guilds in addition to here, SeeD is still a guild nonetheless. It's still a guild of which you are a part, and while you can be a part of another guild in some game, remember that you can also be a SeeD. A member of a guild that transcends any specific game, and a community on which you have made or can make a mark. A guild built by hundreds of members since 2001 with a vision of what we can become.

SeeD is your guild, and to work together once again at a common goal will bring us forward. Let's see SeeD as we used to see it, and work together to move forward once again. You're writing tomorrow's history today.

[Skyone]

I'm with you Cspace. I do realize that recruitment will be important. I can try recruiting many people that I know would fit in. I can try to make the Runescape/Other games active and have them equally as active as Guild Wars. WoW needs to get a little more active, plus we can try to build a better community. Activeness is important as well. We are a big community, so we will increase as a community yes, true. We must make sure though that each game has it's own qualifications and expectations to be active like the rest. I've seen some factions that are being left out, maybe we can try to fix that. Let me know what you think.

[Neraphym]

Hm, we could use more members... the only problem I see is the current lack of activity. When new members come in right now, they'll see that our forums aren't very active, and they might leave because of it. If activity is high enough, more people might stick around. In addition to recruitment, I think we all need to seriously step-up our activity. If we do both, SeeD will take off its boots AND its pants!!!

[Cspace]

I'm with you Cspace. I do realize that recruitment will be important. I can try recruiting many people that I know would fit in. I can try to make the Runescape/Other games active and have them equally as active as Guild Wars. WoW needs to get a little more active, plus we can try to build a better community. Activeness is important as well. We are a big community, so we will increase as a community yes, true. We must make sure though that each game has it's own qualifications and expectations to be active like the rest. I've seen some factions that are being left out, maybe we can try to fix that. Let me know what you think.

Sounds great! For the Runescape Faction, I'd recommend that you contact Master of Stuff or Star Jedi. Both are involved with it, and want to work something out to help get some activity going there once again.

If activity is high enough, more people might stick around. In addition to recruitment, I think we all need to seriously step-up our activity.

Good thinking

If we do both, SeeD will take off its boots AND its pants!!!

That's scary on so many levels

[Bodom]

ud need to work on getting activity up now before getting new members,they need a reason to say, wish it was like when i was here in my level 50 days :$ chat was always full and rs always had seeds on doing something. Seems now seed just recruits people on rs who are like five minutes new to the game :$ and chats dead

[Spikeout]

I want most people to work on

the

"Try to make new members feel welcome when they come here."

part lol.

dont flame them bcuz they cant spell or are noobs. if we were that in 2003 or w.e then LOTS of people wudnt have been here including SJedi and JGJ etc. ya no the people taht matter lol

[ticktockclok]

There's many of us who aren't members of 'SeeD', but more 'CurvedSpace'. I'll try recruiting a bit for CurvedSpace.

[Cspace]

Isn't activity usually understood to be a corequisite to recruitment, not a prerequisite?

The activity has to come from somewhere. What came first? The activity or the recruitment? A clan starts with 100% activity but just a few members (sometimes just one or two). To boast activity is a little foolish at this point, even if all of the members are in the game 24/7. So they need to find the activity and bring it to them. They need to recruit and push activity at the same time. So new members come, and from the focus on activity, they become active. So through recruitment and a focus on activity, the clan becomes active.

Our factions have almost exclusively been recruiting from each other, not reaching out into other games. We have close to the same level of activity that we've always had, but it's spread over a lot more bread. It's easy to notice that the activity concerns are generally coming from those who focus on one aspect, such as the RS Faction, but don't really have a connection elsewhere. We can work on that by pushing activity and recruiting... We can't just choose one or the other.

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I recommend that the factions establish their leadership (including the RS Faction), and start pushing themselves into their games. They should push activity, and in the process reach out to find new members. The whole idea with the faction system is that they all can push activity and recruit, and from the collective interest they all would benefit from each other. It just requires a little focus, and some collective goals. Instead of focusing on how certain factions are inactive, we should focus on how active they can potentially become.

We have a lot in place to get things going. The only thing left is for members to realize what can be done. When the members start handling their factions as intended with the system, SeeD is going to be much more active than we have ever been.

Instead of only recruiting in one game, we have various interacting factions all focusing on activity in many games? With as many active members as we have? Does anyone realize the potential we've been overlooking?

We can talk all we want, but nothing is going to be accomplished until we actually do what we say should be done.

There's many of us who aren't members of 'SeeD', but more 'CurvedSpace'. I'll try recruiting a bit for CurvedSpace.

That would be awesome, thanks a lot! Along with focusing on the factions, the community should definitely not be forgotten.

[Elvenblader]

I have been trying to take a more active role in Balamb and been putting in an effort to get the guys in Balamb more active in not only runescape but also in other games and activities. Since Miner has been MIA for quite a while I figured I could step up and just help around a little bit. For now I have been inactive in runescape (Darn Unreal Tournament 2004 and FPS games) I let everyone know at Balamb and around Seed that if you ever want to say hi or just talk your more than welcome to talk to me on MSN. I am mostly on MSN but I also have AOL and Yahoo addresses if you want to contact me. All you need to do is send me an email or add me onto your contact list and I'm more than willing to talk. All in all I just want Balamb to stay alive, be more active and just keep things going.

[Kimojuno]

I usually read Cspace's posts, as you should all know, however I am quite tired and too lazy to do so. So thereby I will just post, because I assume this has to do with activity, that I am still here and therefore did not forget about SeeD. And since I saw something about factions, and Elven posting something about Balamb, I will note that I have not forgot about Centra and am also trying to find other games. And also may of perhaps found a game, that maybe perhaps maybe even so, which Centra may eventually join. But that may not be, until maybe, or perhaps, that the world of third begins to unravel and comes out. Obviously, at least to me, this may not be, perhaps, or maybe, until about a two or four fortnights, or so, but instead of that I will leave you with a and a .

Gooday,
Jeff.

[Snowy]

Cspace I am having trouble with GunZ. No one wants to play except me and Red Sentinel and those who try it leave immediatly because they think it is too hard. GunZ is not a game where everyone is equal. GunZ is skill, pure and simple. And those twenty or thirty few I have recruited that can be considered at my level in GunZ will NOT join SeeD because they don't understand the relationship between Aftermath and SeeD and SeeD and CurvedSpace. And believe me I have explained it. >_> Anyways, is it ok if I recruit for DarkStorm?


I can't believe I thought this was an update >_>

[CongressJon]

That's... That's the most inspirational... And highly caffeinated thing... I've ever seen you write, Cspace. *Sniff*

As I'm sure a bunch of you know, I've been here a while. In fact, since December 2002. I've seen almost four years of action here. Now don't tell me that ain't impressive, Willis! (Never seen that movie, but the Willis addition seemed appropriate.)

I've seen a good bulk of the things that Cspace described happen, and survived to tell the tale, with a good majority of my sanity intact. (Or, well, that's what my psychologist tells me.) And it is true - without its members, SeeD is nothing. It's us that makes SeeD what it is, and keeps all of its parts running.

Still, things aren't "happy-happy joy-joy perfect". Close, but not quite. The factions were a great idea - we're not just a Runescape clan and community anymore. SeeD is truly making the transformation from a tightly knit Runescape clan to an all-out gaming community. Now don't tell me that's not impressive. (Willis!) But, well, to maintain all of that... like everything else, we need more peoples.

I haven't been around too much in the past few months. There's been a lot of stuff going on... between friends, family, (back in June and earlier) school, vacations, and all that jazz. Though, even so... I still probably could've been a lot more active than I have been. Not that that's a sin or anything, (I think) but I probably could've contributed a lot more to SeeD overall in these past few... things. Of course, I don't really play many, if any console- or computer-based games, but what of it?

At any rate... I'm definitely going to stick a couple of banners in my signatures here and there, just see what I can do... Plus, expect to see me pop in here, there and everywhere on the forums now.

And now that I'm finished with that... I could really use a frappuccino. Crazy stuff... I've never had any coffee-related drink other than a few sips of coffee here and there. No mochas, no lattes, no frappuccinos, though it seems most kids my age (14, y'all!) have. "Hey, mom? Can we take a quick pit stop at Starbucks today?"

[Red Sentinel]

How many of those have you had, Cspace?