Phoenix Archer 128
Better Hide R Die
89
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Posted - 2013.02.14 04:39:00 -
[1] - Quote
If you are serious about wanting to start a corp, you have to start making connections and getting your name out there. That is the first, and probably most important thing; you corp's skill is always secondary. Why? There are people of all skill-levels looking for corps, so there will always be people out there to recruit. Going by your skill alone will leave out most of the potential corp-mates. Look at the big corps here; they all are well-known, either for constantly being in matches with others or constantly being on the forums (both are for good or ill). With their names in people's heads, a person looking for a corp will likely look for someone they know first, rather than an unknown.
Yeah, my corp (I'm not the leader BTW) is originally from the PS2 era, though we're most well-known for MAG and Starhawk involvement now, but that's the thing...we are known. We have a lot of connections in certain areas and are able to draw from these "pools" and get people to join. We have a thread up and running in the Corp section of these forums, and we've gained members that way too. Lastly, we run groups all the time, and, for the most part (essentially barring lag, too many tanks/lasers/heavies, and just bad luck) we do well enough in pub matches to get the corp-less to notice.
Its also good to note that we are not a highly competitive corp; we're here to have fun first and foremost, to just play the game. That's not to say we're poor players, just that we don't "push" people into doing things they really don't want to do and focus more on having a good time than stressing over stats and getting that win. Yes, we have some really good players, but we also take in many newbies and teach, and as long as people get along and have fun they're welcome to stay, regardless of skill level. We also have some different ways of operating, and sometimes it grates on other corps, but we do what works for us.
So, get your name out there; the forum's Corp Recruitment section is invaluable for that, and also keep an eye out for the threads asking for a corp to join. The more your corp's name gets seen, the more likely you'll get people interested.
Make sure you detail what your corp is about when advertising; saying you're a training corp, for example, but really being a highly competitive corp is not a good way to get people (the word will spread about the false advertisement, and yeah, it goes downhill from there) Also, initially you do not want strict requirements; be more lax and willing to work with people and get them up to speed, it will pay off in the long run. When you are established then you can add on stricter requirements, but don't tick off the people who got you where you are.
Post in the other forums, and get corpmates to do the same. Again, its all about getting your name out there.
I do recommend answering questions and paying attention to your local chat in-game; there usually is someone looking for help, and if you give it to them they probably will ask to group, and from there you may have a new corp-mate.
When you do have some more people, grouping up and playing as a team is also a great way to get some of those who are looking for a corp; having your corp (at least two people) at the top of the scoreboards game after game will get attention (kills or WP, doesn't matter), and will get some people interested in finding out more about you and/or joining.
Do not expect this to happen overnight, as others have said. I honestly cannot remember how long it took for us to go from a small, tight-nit clan in MAG to something everyone knew about, but it took months (this wan't at launch, it was probably 8-12 months into MAG's life when this started to really happen). We've grown and shrunk, but really, we started out in Dust with maybe 8-12 people, some of our core members...and now are over 100 in Dust (we also have many others in the clan, but playing other games...some just don't like Dust, others are waiting for more patches/content, others have other reasons), and often have at least 12 on during our peak hours, more certaindays. We do have a few EVE players as well, not many, but that will grow in time.
TL:DR - Get your (corp's) name out there; post a lot in the recruitment section, post a lot on the forums in general, chat in local, help people, get known. That is the best way to grow a corp, IMO. |