10/22/2015
FAQ for Bungie.net Groups, Clans, and Alliances
One of our Welcoming Committee Mentors has written up an awesome FAQ regarding Groups, Clans, and Alliances on Bungie.net. Thanks, Spawn!
Anyone who is interested in getting more out of their
Bungie.net or Destiny community experience may at one point want to consider
joining or creating a private Group, Clan, or Alliance in order to meet like-minded
members, have a ton of fun, and take their participation on the website and
game to the next level.
This FAQ exists to answer basic questions about the key
differences between Groups, Clans, and Alliances in addition to troubleshooting
some of the more basic problems you might run into while participating or
running one of the aforementioned constructs.
What is a Group?
Groups are the most basic type of private communities on Bungie.net. Joining or creating a Group grants you access to all the basic tools you need to run a private community. Every Group has a private forum and wall which allows for discussion and coordination. As a Group Founder you can promote other group members to Admin status and together you can accept new members into the Group, moderate your forums, and post announcements for Group members to read. You can also publish threads to the public forum from your Group, which is a way to give the community at large a chance to see what's going on inside your Group.
What is a Group?
Groups are the most basic type of private communities on Bungie.net. Joining or creating a Group grants you access to all the basic tools you need to run a private community. Every Group has a private forum and wall which allows for discussion and coordination. As a Group Founder you can promote other group members to Admin status and together you can accept new members into the Group, moderate your forums, and post announcements for Group members to read. You can also publish threads to the public forum from your Group, which is a way to give the community at large a chance to see what's going on inside your Group.
If you would like to learn more about group creation, options, or tools, click here.
What is a Clan, and how is it different from a Group?
A Clan is a limited number of like-minded gamers that actively collaborate and participated together. Clans have existed for decades, but Bungie.net finally has the option to support them directly on their own website.
A Clan is not a Group (in the technical sense), Clans are limited to 100 members per platform (PlayStation/Xbox) per Group. A Group has an unlimited number of members that can collaborate and share discussion together. Clan rosters are monitored by a Group Founder/Administration and members have the option to change them.
There are some rewards, achievements and trophies specific to Destiny that must be completed with members of your Clan. Clan settings can be enabled from a Group when Administration activates it through "Admin Tools" > "Clan Settings" from the Group's homepage. Members must apply (on the Group's Homepage) after Clan Settings have been enabled.
What is an Alliance, and how is it different from Groups or Clans?
An Alliance is a shared bond between multiple Groups. For years, Bungie.net Alliances has already existed, usually consisting of a URL link on a Group's homepage directing lurkers to the "Allianced" Group. Bungie.net now fully supports having an Alliance between multiple groups. A Group can only be a member of one Alliance. But a single Alliance can have an undetermined amount of Groups.
Only Founders and Administrators can alter Alliance settings found in a group under "Admin Tools" then "Alliances and Following".
Groups are a large gathering on Bungie.net, held for discussion.
Clans are a smaller subset within a Group housed for Destiny game action.
An Alliance is the bond between multiple Groups with similar purpose.
Are there any limits on how many Groups, Clans, or Alliances I can join or follow as a member? What about my Group or Clan?
Each member on Bungie.net can be a member of:
Each Group can have:
Each Clan can have:
Each Alliance can have:
What is the best way to recruit members for my clan?
It's different for every group, but here are some recommended ways:
IMPORTANT NOTE: At this time you must be a Group Founder in order to activate your Group's Clan features.
What is a Clan, and how is it different from a Group?
A Clan is a limited number of like-minded gamers that actively collaborate and participated together. Clans have existed for decades, but Bungie.net finally has the option to support them directly on their own website.
A Clan is not a Group (in the technical sense), Clans are limited to 100 members per platform (PlayStation/Xbox) per Group. A Group has an unlimited number of members that can collaborate and share discussion together. Clan rosters are monitored by a Group Founder/Administration and members have the option to change them.
There are some rewards, achievements and trophies specific to Destiny that must be completed with members of your Clan. Clan settings can be enabled from a Group when Administration activates it through "Admin Tools" > "Clan Settings" from the Group's homepage. Members must apply (on the Group's Homepage) after Clan Settings have been enabled.
What is an Alliance, and how is it different from Groups or Clans?
An Alliance is a shared bond between multiple Groups. For years, Bungie.net Alliances has already existed, usually consisting of a URL link on a Group's homepage directing lurkers to the "Allianced" Group. Bungie.net now fully supports having an Alliance between multiple groups. A Group can only be a member of one Alliance. But a single Alliance can have an undetermined amount of Groups.
Only Founders and Administrators can alter Alliance settings found in a group under "Admin Tools" then "Alliances and Following".
Groups are a large gathering on Bungie.net, held for discussion.
Clans are a smaller subset within a Group housed for Destiny game action.
An Alliance is the bond between multiple Groups with similar purpose.
Are there any limits on how many Groups, Clans, or Alliances I can join or follow as a member? What about my Group or Clan?
Each member on Bungie.net can be a member of:
- 50 Groups at a time
- 1 Clan at a time
- Follow an undetermined number of Groups
Each Group can have:
- 1 Alliance at a time
- 1 Clan (formed within their own group)
- An undetermined number of Members/Followers - there are groups with
10,000+ members
Each Clan can have:
- 100 members per platform (PlayStation/Xbox)
- 1 Alliance at a time - tied to your Group Alliance
Each Alliance can have:
- An undetermined number of Groups
Why are there people who aren't in my Group / Clan / Alliance posting in our threads? I thought our forums were private!
Within a Group, you can have Public or Private threads. Private threads can ONLY be seen by Members of the Group. Public Threads can be seen by anyone on Bungie.net (even if they don't have an account).
Group Founders and Administrators have the option under "Admin Tools" to set threads to default to one or the other, or managed manually by your Group Administration. It's important to know if threads are going to be public or private upon creation, you should ask your Founder or a Group Admin if you're not sure.
Threads can be made public after they're private initially. Any comments made when a thread is private will not display if the thread is later made public.
Within a Group, you can have Public or Private threads. Private threads can ONLY be seen by Members of the Group. Public Threads can be seen by anyone on Bungie.net (even if they don't have an account).
Group Founders and Administrators have the option under "Admin Tools" to set threads to default to one or the other, or managed manually by your Group Administration. It's important to know if threads are going to be public or private upon creation, you should ask your Founder or a Group Admin if you're not sure.
Threads can be made public after they're private initially. Any comments made when a thread is private will not display if the thread is later made public.
What is the best way to recruit members for my clan?
It's different for every group, but here are some recommended ways:
- Hold public discussions. By utilizing the public thread feature,
you can house Group discussions outside of your private walls to see who
partakes in discussion.
- Hold regular game nights. The trick here is "regular",
you can even make these public to invite non members of your Group.
- Have competitions. Ever heard of a Raiding competition? Who can
clear the objective X,Y or Z the fastest, get the most points etc.
- Create awesome content. Find the niche of your group that makes you, you and show it off to the public. Get more to join, celebrate your achievements.
IMPORTANT NOTE: At this time you must be a Group Founder in order to activate your Group's Clan features.
Additionally, we have articles on Clans and Alliances if you are encountering any issues with your Clan:
