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In 1997, shortly after Age of Empires and the Zone hit the online gaming scene, a small group formed a ‘zone clan’ by placing the letters CSA_ before their zone names. It was not uncommon to see CSA_Kight, CSA_Paladin, CSA_Arthur and others online most nights along with a number of players in the other fledgling clans. There was little organization beyond ‘The Leader’ who was typically the player that thought up the name and created the zone affiliation list. That was basically the level of control exerted over the other members of the clan. As creator, they could accept or deny players petitioning for addition to the ‘official’ zone list for that particular clan. Most of these clans were held together simply because players enjoyed playing on a team or because they preferred to be associated with a group. The CSA clan membership, as with the bulk of the other clans, varied in number and little overall direction was provided.
In 1998, the nature of the CSA clan changed with a new leader stepping forward. Changes to the Clan were the adoption of the current motif with members new zone names restricted to the names of actual general officers of the Confederate States Army during the War Between the States prefaced with the Clan identifier of CSA_. The basic foundation of the Clan was also set as being non-skills based, no age requirements, and honorable play. Many clans at that time required an aspiring member to ‘audition’ by playing a number of games with recruiters to show that they had an ‘acceptable’ skill level. Others also applied age limitations in the belief that years were a measure of maturity and bearing. The next change was to apply a pseudo-rank (major, lt. colonel, colonel, and general at the time) to each member. These ranks were subject to change (promotion/demotion) as the Clan leader deemed necessary based upon time in the Clan, perceived level of play, manner, and at times whim. In time a basic website was created to give the Clan a ‘home’ and a means of disseminating information.
During 1999, the Clan began to grow in number steadily. It was becoming clear that the current structure and organization was too inflexible to serve the needs of the group. This led to conflict and friction within the Clan that began to escalate. The growth of the Clan and subsequent increase in diversity of the member's backgrounds, lead to a growing awareness of the centralized power and authority structure on which the Clan was founded. It was apparently inadequate to address abuses of such assumed authority or the trend to misdirect of the will of the majority of the members. To many, this necessitated a broader based power and decision making body. In the face of threats to disband the Clan, among others, a number of the most senior members met and developed a new command structure to replace the single leader concept. The new Command Council made efforts to build a Clan that would try to minimize the central leader/ego issue, skill issues and focus on creating a community of mature (acting) individuals that enjoy playing together to escape the usual Zone nonsense and lack of socialization that many players exhibit.
This change was overwhelmingly accepted by the other members. By mid 2000. a major redesign of the website, acquiring our own domain name and moving to a new host helped to improve communications and strengthen the Clan.
The system and structure has changed little since that time. Officers have come and gone or simply moved aside to let others step up to the plate with little disruption in operation. The system continues to serve the membership and hold firmly to the founding tenets of the Clan. That the CSA remains active and strong is a credit to those who gave their time and talents to devise and implement this system of shared leadership.
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