

Reddit is more than just a community, it’s also a Clan. We talked with some of [RDDT]'s officers to find out what being part of their unique Clan is all about. And this week, you can join them in a night of chaos, fun and prizes!

How did the Clan start?

Gottfried_von_Grumpy: It started as the subreddit right when the game first came out on the NA server in early 2011 [r/WorldofTanks -Ed.]. Somebody started the subreddit and the subreddit was just supposed to be for the Clan.

From there it took off and grew -- more than just the people in the Clan were using the subreddit. And with success in Clan Wars, it grew to the point where the subreddit wasn’t going to work just for the Clan anymore.

Then the [RDDT] Clan went off and starting working with the subreddit as a place we always go back to. We get our information there, but we kind of grew beyond the subreddit.

What attracted you to joining a Clan?

StranaMechty: Well, I have currently the longest contiguous term on the inside. And I got started way back in late 2011/early 2012, when the then-Commander said "Hey you've got a lot of tanks. Why don't you join us? We can earn some Gold." And at that time, I had three of the three tier Xs that were available. And I have just sort of stuck around ever since because we're casual enough that I don't feel like there's too much tension or anything like that. I just like to shoot tanks. So I don't want to practice or get too stressed about the outcome of anything. I feel like we're laid back enough that it’s reasonable just to hang out.

Ledif: I joined in the middle of 2012. I unlocked a tier X and thought, "I want to use this." I was on the subreddit before that and there were Clans on the subreddit so I joined like that. I think like Strana says, you just want to shoot tanks. At that time, Clan Wars was a pretty big deal. It still is, but it was like the thing to do when you got tier Xs in the game. I took my brand-new T30 and did Clan Wars.

HellishYoda: I had, from the various friends I played with, pressure into joining and playing World of Tanks. Then later on down the road, they were playing Clan Wars and I had just unlocked a tier X. I can't remember which one, but I want to say it was the M48A1 Patton. It was right around the time it became a tier X for that line. So, I was sitting there and they told me, "You should play Clan Wars" and I said "fine." I joined [NARWL], which was one of the [RDDT] sub-clans, because one of my other friends had been in [RDDT]'s main Clan. From there, I guess worked my way up, but not intentionally most of the time.

Bluech: I think I got into [RDDT] when I decided to play with my first Clan for a while playing Tank Companies. Then I decided that I wanted to try Clan Wars a little more seriously than we were doing. So I applied and got rejected immediately from [NARWL] for being terrible. So I joined [TLDR] from Reddit, which at that point was our Clan Wars training Clan. I found out that they had no callers the day that I joined and ended up calling for them for about three weeks. Then, [RDDT] found out that they had no callers, so I ended up in [RDDT]. By the time I got good enough that I could go somewhere else, I found that I actually liked the people here in an odd sort of way.

Xeroproject: For me it was the same thing, the subreddit. I liked the laid-back attitude, the self-deprecating humor, all that pretty much attracted me, and I applied. I’d been Clan-less since Closed Beta and you know, when you’re Clan-less going through the game, you just get lots of invites and I was determined that I wasn’t going to join any Clan that was going to recruit in the Random battles or anything like that. I was lucky enough to get accepted before the First Campaign. Duck decided that he would join too because that’s kind of what we’ve done in every game we’ve played for the last 20 years.

Gottfried: I joined because of the subreddit and because on there they said "Hey, I think [RDDT]’s forming up for Clan Wars. This is a cool new thing. Let’s try to get some people together to do it." And so that’s when I joined [RDDT]. I was around before many of the sub-clans were even made so I kind of got in that way and stuck with it for a long time. You start balancing Clan and the subreddit because some of us here also moderate it. When you're tied to the subreddit, taking care of the subreddit also takes care of the Clan in a way as well. You kind of want to stay around with both of them.

Dwight_D_Eisenhower: For me, Xeroproject approached me with the offerings of three goats. Then he got on his knees and kissed the tops of my feet and said "Oh great Dwight, please join this Clan and inspire us with your greatness." (Laughs)

For someone who is new to your Clan, what advice do you give them?

Dwight: We make sure that they can fit in with most of the Clan. The biggest piece of advice is to keep grinding multiple tier Xs because tank locking is a thing. If you only have three to five tier Xs, you will easily lock all of them in a matter of a few days. At least I tell them that, as well as the most important thing -- to make sure you're listening in battle, giving relevant information, watching the mini-map and listening to the callers.

Bluech: On a more serious, but less battle-related note, I would say just to find some friends within the Clan or outside the Clan. Because this game is far more interesting when you have people to talk to in TeamSpeak. It really helps to stick around in a community to make the game more enjoyable.

Ledif: Personality matters. You can’t get by in this Clan without knowing and liking at least a decent portion of it. When you join, make sure that it's the right fit. Know what you get into. Or run -- that also works.

Xero: Beyond [RDDT] and more as the whole family, a big thing on the TeamSpeak, especially since the TeamSpeak address is easily accessible via the subreddit and multiple Clans pages, you get a lot of people coming in. They’re looking for their first Clan or they’re looking for a new Clan, and they’ll hang out in the recruitment channel. You’ll end up talking to players with all different skill levels. With so many different Clans on one TS, you have to find out what are they looking to get out of a Clan. Because all different clans have different focuses, they offer different things, stuff they may be more interested in than others. So you end up talking to a lot of random people with different interests in the game. Maybe they’re looking for more Strongholds, more tournaments or more Clan Wars. Taking a look at their interest, their skill level and where they want to go is important. They might end up being a better fit for [RDDT7] or they might be looking more for tournaments, which would be [PIR8]. They might end up looking for Clan Wars, but don't have tier Xs yet ([RDDTV] and [RDDT3] are doing more of a tier VIII). That’s part of it too, really getting to know people on a more Reddit level. That’s what we do too, as part of the recruitment process. It’s not just how purple are you on your stats, we do want people that know what they’re doing to a degree. It’s 50/50, like if drama follows them, they’re not really going to fit in with what we’ve got. We produce enough of our own drama without importing new drama.

[RDDT] is famous for their Community Nights. How did that get started?

Strana: We were bored on the nights when updates shut down Clan Wars. The ELCs were new and everyone just wanted to drive really fast. So we got a racetrack on Himmelsdorf and the rest is sort of history.