The North American Clan Scene
Background
For some time now, the NA clan scene has been going through some highs and lows of activity, and inactivity. As it stands there are just about 5 clans that can compete with other high tier clans. The problem is, once you look lower then those few, the level of skill drops dramatically.
The problem I’m seeing with the current NA community, is that it seems to be dieing. Currently, the top clans consist of old veteran players who’ve been around since early on. And as they leave soldat, there doesn’t seem to be many people to take their places. I’m writing this guide to help introduce young and new players into the soldat’s NA clan scene.
Currently NA is soldat can be broken down into four smaller communities. The first of which is Soldat Forums, which is the obvious place for new players trying to learn the ropes of the game. The second could be considered EliteCTF (http://elitectf.com/), which hosts many specialized servers, such as Snipe and Slice, and One Shots. Then you have U13 publics (http://u13.net/), though it is more of a group of soldat servers rather then an actual community. But probably the biggest influence on the NA clan scene is Fractured Soldat (http://fracs.net/bbs/). It hosts many key parts that help run the NA clan scene.
Fractured Soldat
(http://fracs.net/bbs/)
Fractured Soldat is a project run by Chibi. Honestly, NA soldat might be a shell of what it is today without him. He currently hosts countless servers for NA clans out of his own pocket, running servers for such clans as |war, R7, DC, and so on. Chibi also runs a quite large ventrilo server, free to use by anyone. Not only that, but he manages Fractured Forums as well, which is the single largest collection of experienced NA players.
If you want to break into the NA clan scene, this is where you almost need to be. Look around, make an account, and introduce yourself. As long as you aren’t ill-tempered, you should be welcomed with open arms. Along with being a place to talk and discuss various issues, it also contains many of the top clans’ forums in sub section within the site. Making for easy access to any clan you’d like to talk with, or learn about.
I’d also like to suggest you read a guide written by Insta that will explain things about Fractured Soldat in a bit more detail. You can find a link to the guide here. (http://fracs.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=6374)
IRC
IRC is a must have for any soldat player or clan wishing to improve. IRC is simply a chat program that is separated into channels for anyone’s use. I’m sure a lot of you have heard of it from many of the NA clan players, and about how useful it is. I’m also sure many of you associate it with stuck-up people who think they’re the best. While there are a few people like that on IRC, you can also find those same types of people everywhere else you look. Because despite the few arrogant players, there are many, many helpful and nice players to be found on IRC.
Probably the most used IRC program is mIRC, which basically connects you to the network. You can find a download for it here. (http://www.mirc.com/) The reason I stress on getting IRC is because it is easily the most useful tool for finding friendly clan wars, playing gathers, or just chatting with fellow players about anything. It takes almost no resources to run, and brings you into the world of gathers.
The reason I stress IRC is because it lets you play gathers. Gathers are simply a 3v3 CTF mixed scrim where players play two to three rounds of CTF on different maps. The most popular NA gather is #sna.gather. You can read more about it here. (http://wiki.soldat.nl/Soldat_North_American_Gather) Soldat gathers are very helpful to both new players trying to improve, and old players honing their skills. If you truly wish to improve in soldat, this is where you need to be. But be warned, it is a huge step up from basic pubs. Though much more fun.
It may seem like a bit much to work with at first, but I recommend reading the guide to set up IRC here. (http://wiki.soldat.nl/IRC_tutorial) This guide will show you the basics of connecting, to setting up your auth.
Soldat Leagues
Let’s face it, the main reason anyone wants to get better at anything, is to compete. As of now, the most prestigious leagues are SCTFL, which currently completed its 11th season, clan In ~ winning over {EF}, and The Next League, which is currently underway. While both are highly European dominate, you can’t say that the NA scene hasn’t made an impact on them, R7 making it to the Semi-Finals this season, and BioHazard winning the whole thing a few seasons ago.
This is where you prove how good you are, and where you stand in the world of soldat. Since clans from all around the world compete for the win. If you win in these leagues then you do gain the right to say that you are indeed, the best of the best.
You can find the standings, and match reports of the past SCTFL season here at their forums. (http://sctfl.net/) And you can get updates from how the current TNL is going here. (http://www.thenextleague.net/forums/)
Current NA Clan List
(As of 10/20/08)
cR
DC
DETH/OC
EN
PV2
Pyro
R7
RE
~/SOD\~
\TC\
cR[/u] (#cr.soldat)
Blood Shaman
Sting
aphec
Blake
D3rek
eCkO
Ichiro
K-v-N
Sexual
SoulR34v3r
Tyrant
DC (#DC)
Transit
Control
Chap
Xurich
Kris
Sexual
Grishnak
xurich
undead
Xxypher
Blood
Dark_Assassin
ExSoldier
S4R
Insta
BloodShaman
DETH/OC[/u] (#deth.oc)
RyKNoW
ugaboobies
Keiran
MWTBDLR
Leopard
Diehard
]{ing
Yoshi
Valuemeal
EN[/u]
(Need Roster)
PV2[/u]
FabmanX
Aost
Shady
Nahuel
Marbire
Lithium
PimpJuice
Pyro[/u] (#Pyro)
Cappy
Itachi
Hacks
Wayland (Russian Warrior)
X-Master
Tinysmurf
Leopardo
Major
Iszil
MADinmexico
R7[/u] (#the.ruthless)
Blade
Psycho
D Shadow
Owls
Geriace
zero
Fxghta
Wasp
RE|[/u] (#re.soldat)
Spec Ops
Piro
Orange
Crumbly Cookie
Cray
Cr4cer
Bleed
Rooster
Mr Scientist
Pierre
Wizkid
~/SOD\~[/u]
Jeremy
Camper Carl
Kid
Shadow
Toon
Mallow
Unique
Ravender
Farah
Sry
Airforce
\TC\[/u] (#tc.soldat)
Ryde
cappy
Asuka
Shotta
Ultr4
Diego
Mata
Cheetos
Amida
Term
TehRus
Valdes
Kryptonite
Lead
Chariot
Providence
Important IRC channels
#sna.gather (popular NA gather)
#soldat.gather (popular Euro gather)
#fractured (fractured soldat channel)
#soldat.match (best place to find clanwars)
You can also find a list of other basic IRC channels here. (http://forums.soldat.pl/index.php?topic=6.0)
Important Websites
http://fracs.net/bbs/
(Fracs Forums)
http://fracs.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=6374
(Fracs Forum Guide)
http://u13.net/
(U13 website)
http://elitectf.com/
(EliteCTF Forums)
http://www.thenextleague.net/forums/
(TNL forums)
http://sctfl.net/
(SCTFL website)
http://forums.soldat.pl/index.php?topic=6.0
(Common IRC channels)
http://wiki.soldat.nl/IRC_tutorial
(IRC tutorial)
http://wiki.soldat.nl/Soldat_North_American_Gather
(SNA.gather Wiki)
http://www.mirc.com/
(mIRC website)
I hope you all found this guide helpful, or at least a fun read. Let me know if you have anything you’d like to add, or if I posted any wrong information. The clan list consists of just NA clans, if you feel I left out any clans, or need to update a roster, let me know. I'll try to keep as current as I can.