Hagar43
Well, finally some dialogue about the reasons for the rules as they apply to tags.
However, I have learned my lesson and am not about to go into point and counterpoint.
Best I let this dog go quietly to sleep.
LOL.. I'm a little late to the party, but I'll chime in anyway. Don't feel bad Hagar, some of us Idiots get a little 'mob mentality' going when our paradigms are challenged.. or seem to be challenged. (I get what you are saying, I appreciate a good discussion for the sake of discussion)
Most people, or at least it seems most folks attracted to on-line gaming, are also attracted to the sense of belonging that a clan offers. I think it puts a 'personal' face on an impersonal media like on-line gaming. The tags almost ensure a sense of brotherhood and belonging that is lacking with a group that just hangs out in certain servers provides. The point made earlier by RickJames is one of the best arguments if you want to attempt to maintain exclusive rights to 'intellectual property' that is generated by a clan, such as mods. However, that is obviously not the motivation of the general clan member in wearing the tags daily and playing in clan servers.
Having been an online gamer for a long time now, and not having been much of a tournament or ladder player, I cannot really comment on the derivation of clan tags. I can see, however, that it is a natural progression from being an individual gamer randomly playing on servers to a gamer who has found a 'home' and plays mostly in the same servers with the same people. That dynamic is always strengthened by the website home of the clan. I do not believe a clan would be very successful as ONLY an entity that plays a specific game on a set of servers without the website as a base to serve as a home for the clan members, where they can put out information and have casual conversation as well. THIS, coupled with the game time, is what cements a clan as a home and brotherhood.
For the sake of discussion, I would have to say that it is an incorrect assumption to suggest that clan tags are an outdated process, simply based on the fact that it is alive and well in the gaming community, and most gamers appear to prefer that dynamic. The community 'makes' the rules, and it is an accepted and followed practice. If a time ever comes where the majority of on-line players are just individuals connecting to random servers (like those bastards at IW and Activision are trying to proliferate with MW2) then I would have to agree it is an outdated practice. I do NOT look forward to a gaming environment such as that, because I like the dynamic of a clan and the sense of 'belonging' that it affords.