- 1,031
- Driftland, Lochgelly
- SeanWelland
Good evening folks. Since everyone is complaining about the lack of effort people are putting into newly made drift team threads, i figured i would go ahead and write this. Hopefully this will catch on, get spread around and we can put ideas back and forth to help others who are keen to start their own drift team.
Now to start off with, you need to answer a few questions! Vital questions which will either make YOUR team a contender with the best or a flop like the rest.
First off, can you drift?
This might seem like a silly question but this is by far THE most vital question of all. If you're new to the drifting scene, it is highly recommended that you introduce yourself to teams (preferably within your time zone) and ask for help, possible tutoring and even tuning help. I'm sure i speak for all the teams on GTP when i say that we're more than welcome to help people that are willing to learn! Remember, everyone has their own drifting style and if you're only a beginner it will be frustrating to start with. Give it time and who knows, maybe you'll be able to put together your own tune and party with the big boys!
Ok, so you know the ins and outs of how to drift. You probably have your own set of cars you like to drift. Why not join a team?
Remember when i mentioned joining sessions with other teams? Learning how to drift etc? I'm pretty sure that training didn't happen "overnight". You've probably dug a little niche with the team you've been learning from, half of the team probably know who you are now and there is a good rapport between you and some of the members. So, are they recruiting? Remember that most teams don't recruit, especially the more well known teams. They already have a lot of members and when you have a team with 20+ members, it does get hard to keep track of everybody. But remember this isn't always the case! I was drifting with members of D-Max for a good 4-5 months before they asked me if i wanted to join! Have patience!
After learning to drift and gaining knowledge about teams, you've decided you want to create your own team! But what kind of team do you want to create?
Look at the current "big" teams out there; we have D-Max, Drop5, BURST etc. and they all serve a different purpose. D-Max is a particularly small European team based off of a Japanese drift tuning company with the same name. D-Max are a niche of close friends that originally was a combination of 2 separate teams (Before my time anyway). The opposite of this scale would be a team known as Team RedSuns. RedSuns originally came from Midnight Club and also drift in more games than just GT5 but of course wanted to spread over the whole genre of games. They have 20+ members and practice more than just drifting.
Back to the original question though, do you want to create a small niche of close friends to drift with on occasion or do you want a big team that will challenge anybody they encounter?
Are you sure that owning and running your own team is what you want?
Being in charge of your own team is a BIG responsibility and maintaining a positive reputation with fellow teams and members can be a rough ride; especially for the first couple of weeks. Think back to the previous question, what you want from your team. Is it going to just be a small group? Is it going to be location-biased to reduce lag within lobbies? Do you have a mic to efficiently co-ordinate ideas with other members? Do you have a good internet connection? These are all important factors that a team leader needs to take into consideration!
Probably the 2nd most important thing about your team. Your team name! What is it going to be?
According to recent surveys, 83% of people looking to join a team will be more influenced by the team name than the popularity/reputation of the team; especially new drifters!
Ok, so after ALL of this, you've decided what you're going to go for! What's next? The dreaded creation of your teams GTP thread!
This will be a daunting task for any forum-newbie. The reason for the creation of a thread on GTP is to advertise your team and to ease communication between members and other teams OFF of GT5.
[1]I'd like to note that not all GT5 drift teams actually have threads on GTP! You don't need to have a thread on GTP to have a team either! So if creating a thread isn't your cup of tea then by no means are you forced to make one!
[2]Also, before you actually make the thread - put a LOT of planning into it. Draw up sketches, gather all your information into a word document (Notepad should suffice), get EVERYTHING you need in order before you create your thread. Otherwise you will be met at the hand of not only myself but the drifting community that lives and breathes these forums. We don't take kindly to people making threads willy-nilly because they're the new kid on the block and they think they're the next best thing. If you think you are then by all means, flaunt it with your OP and you will shine through like a double rainbow fart.
Now your first step, you want your teams thread to stand out! You want it to catch the eye of the reader. You don't want it being a big wall of boring text! (This post seems to defeat that purpose...)
Do you have members within your team already? If so, mention them in the OP! Throw a picture in there maybe. Do you have a logo? Throw that up there! Don't know how to deal with pictures and logos? Ask anybody on the forums and you'll be sure to find someone willing to help! Remember, everyone of these forums are more than willing to help you out with any problems you encounter, we're not foul beasts!
If you're having trouble with your initial thread, remember that you can look at threads that the other teams have created! Take some ideas from them (Don't steal of course, we will notice.) and see where it takes you.
Who knows, maybe you could be the creator of the next best contending team on GTP.
Good luck!
I made this thread in focus for it to become a Sticky Thread for the less-knowledgeable to learn more from us! If you agree then suggest it to a moderator and hopefully we can make a difference to the Drifting Teams & Meets forum and clean this place up a bit!
*Edited parts are Green*
- SeanWelland
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lol
