It's nearly the end of 2021!
From myself and all the staff at HelloClan - we're wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy festive season!The time she has definitely flown by this year...and man has it been a year for HelloClan. I'm doing this a little earlier than planned but I wanted to get it done before everyone leaves for their holiday. I'll also be sending out a mass DM to all of our members - either directly after this has been published or the next day.
I'm not even sure where to start his post, but I think it would be fitting to cover our games and their progress first? Yeah...let's go with that!
Before boring you to death with a long post, please ensure you have us on social media!
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/helloclan
Steam:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/hello-clan
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HelloClan/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/UVzSQNBPm8
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLeZEQhaXiptKBQQ67j_aw
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/helloclan
HelloClan's Game Progress:
We've had quite a few ups, one or two downs, but mostly ups in regard to our games this year. I'm pleased to say that we are growing nicely as a community, even if it seems that things are quiet here and there. With that said though, let's delve into a rewind of our games shall we?
Battlefield Vietnam
https://forum.helloclan.eu/bfvYes, we still cover old faithful! It's been one heck of a year for that game all on it's own. Let's just say that BFV is back and, in my personal opinion, better than ever! Let me highlight some stuff eh?
- Earlier this year, we brought back events for HelloClan. This obviously includes all our games that we cover. We aimed high and held the first event in some time for Battlefield Vietnam on the 27th February 2021. It was an event to fill the server and guess what? We did it! Checkout the topic here: https://forum.helloclan.eu/threads/9325/
- We brought back our Mission Possible server, which initially hosted community made maps and is now repurposed for server-side mods. Still boasting all 18 maps, but just better and more balanced! Check it out here: https://forum.helloclan.eu/bfv/missionp
- The qTracker master server, which provided a fix for the original GameSpy master server, began bugging out to the extent that only one or two (most of the times zero) servers showed up in the in-game server browser. However, thanks to an interested player, we found OpenSpy and said player assisted us in patching our server and creating a patched client-side executable for the game. This means that not only have we brought back the in-game server list, but we've also brought the rest of the game server owners in on it too! Checkout the server list here: http://beta.openspy.net/en/server-list/bfvietnam
- We've also made a tribute, while we're on this subject, to our time in Battlefield Vietnam. Or rather, a simple recap of this momentous year. Watch it here:
View: https://youtu.be/YH7kWPpiCIU
Battlefield 1942
https://forum.helloclan.eu/bf1942Yup, you've read that right! We have our own Battlefield 1942 server! Off to a rather bumpy start, but we built it up and now have an established name in that game too! We couldn't be prouder as it's somewhat a direct competitor to Battlefield Vietnam, yet we pulled it off!
- Our BF1942 server boasts server-side mods and custom maps as well! Tailored by BangBangOw, we are proud to say that our server is somewhat unique in it's own right.
- We've had a few minor and two major events for it and it has been a great success in our view. It is a flooded market, having a server for it, but we've managed to pull it off.
- Needless to say, it's not as populated as our BFV server because it's still new to us, but we are graced with a group of players that call it home and thankfully those regulars always bring friends!
- We have some awesome videos of the gameplay we've had on our server, but our featured video from one of our players is a must see! Check it out here:
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
https://forum.helloclan.eu/rs2vThe chicken's have come home to roost! We brought back our RS2V server and it's here to stay (as long as possible at least). This one has been very surprising...in the sense that it randomly fills itself with players and we barely need to do anything!
If anything, this has been the underdog of HelloClan, bringing in the players and also generating quite some interest from it's players in other games we cover. Thanks to Gerhard, RS2:V has found it's home once more.
- Our server boast some neat custom maps, they're beamed to our players via Steam Workshop and it makes life so easily. Keen eyed players may notice several easter eggs to BFV actually and those are thanks to RamboFlamingDart.
- Complimented by great support from TripWire, we're always working on improving gameplay and the host of our RS2V server (PingPerfect) ensures our server is ready to give players the best possible experience.
- Due to...some demand, this clip of Chrigi axing me...is to be featured:
Apex Legends
https://forum.helloclan.eu/apexNot exactly a game we can have a server for, but we've branched out into what we call "satellite" games. One of these games is Apex Legends, with our own clan/group in the game - HCL (HelloClanLegends).
It's primarily supported by our Discord server with it's own section and role for it. Unfortunately there's not much really to say that will hype it up more. It's a very fast paced game and it does have it's frustrations! Did I mention that it is free to play?
Check out the current season's trailer here:
Battlefield 2042
https://forum.helloclan.eu/bf2042We would have had to be daft to not cover this at it's release! Have you seen Battlefield Portal!?
Because we're trying to grow, we obviously need to grow with new games as well, so we hopped on the bandwagon for BF2042 and thus far have enjoyed a bit of success with it.
Checkout the launch trailer here:
Halo Infinite
https://forum.helloclan.eu/haloI'm sure there is a plethora of Halo fans out there, with the latest installment of the series, we took on the task of integrating ourselves with the multiplayer aspect of Halo Infinite - which is free to play!
It is also fast paced, but highly enjoyable no-matter how good (or bad) you are. You're going to have fun one way, or another...
Checkout the multiplayer trailer here:
HelloClan's Social Progress:
I'm going to be brutally honest here, HelloClan didn't have much of a social imprint. I don't even know why I didn't set it all up when I was initially brought on as the Leader (before my break).
However, I'm very pleased to say that we have quite the foothold across several social networks. All of it (except Twitter and Discord) was started from scratch...
HelloClan's YouTube channel (the original one) was unfortunately not accessible to me, so I started a brand new channel for us to advertise, post gameplay videos and live stream on. Thanks to people such as LTShaun, LuccaWulf, BangBangOw & HeiligWahrheit, we've grown the channel quite nicely. Currently sitting at 58 subscribers, with over 2,500 views we've come along way in a short period (at least I think so).
Our most viewed video, sitting at 460 views is this:
Our Facebook page has grown quite nicely too, with 63 likes and 78 followers! Our most reached post there, sitting at 773, is a daring stunt in Battlefield Vietnam by Al Gore. You can view it here: https://fb.gg/v/9W5CJYeVaW/
Over on Reddit, we've grown quietly there, with 18 members BUT we've got some good friends over there. With support from r/BattlefieldVietnam & /classicbattlefield, we have ample space to advertise our events for BFV and BF1942. A few new players have actually been brought on from our postings over there!
Meanwhile, on Twitter, the account was dormant (since 2012), I took control of it and began posting quite a bit. We're sitting at 41 followers. I mainly take to the Twitter account to use the hashtag functions that allow a bit more advertising. For example, the tweet that had the most impressions, sitting at 135, was this one:
The most impressive growth was actually our Discord server!
After significant revamping...our Discord server grew from 220 members to 513! Of course we have a handful of bots to help manage things, but we're still over the 500 without them. We've also made some great allies! Such as the Battlefield 2142 Reclamation community and of course Lost Soldiers in Battlefield 2! Thanks to allies like them, we are able to grow our reach by advertising through them and quite a few Discord members have arrived because of them!
On the note of wrapping up our social progress, checkout the official clan trailer here:
One small step for a man...one giant leap for HelloClan:
In plain words, my personal message...I'm not going to lie, I didn't think I'd come back when I did. I really was uncertain if it was going to last. Being the Leader, it isn't as easy a "job" as people think it is. You're forever in a role of trying to keep everyone happy, taking flak when it comes and pacifying situations. Haha, thinking back on it all now, I can see how much I've changed personally. I've grown quite a bit thanks to all the experience I gained from both my previous and current tenure here. When I came back, I wanted things to be different this time and I wanted it all to work.
Somehow, things have concluded nearly how I wanted them. Unfortunately, there were some bumpy roads and I burned some bridges. Some I'm sorry for, some I'm not sorry for, but all in all, it has been a really good year for me as a person and HelloClan as an entity.
I'm honestly happy to be here again, to share the success, to share the fruits of all the hard work put in by all the staff here at HelloClan. I really couldn't be any more proud of the achievements made here as a community. Again I say, the most resilient community in the world should be a title awarded to the Battlefield Vietnam players. Look at all the good we've done together!
A game that should be long dead, yet endures because we endure. I know that the owner of HelloClan (Theodore) would likewise be so proud and he is still going to rejoin us at some stage. I'm pushing him to join us!
I look forward to what the new year holds for us all and HelloClan will have me for as long as I'm able to. My thanks and appreciation to everyone that has supported all the endeavors we have undertaken, I think we will have some great ones still to come!
Signing off...in memory of Pieter
Of all my achievements, I fell short of keeping up with an old friend. Thus, I felt it fitting to sign this review off in memory of Pieter Bruinsma aka {AiR Piet} who passed away in 2020 from Prostrate Cancer. Most of us knew he was sick, and I did not keep in touch with him during my time away. A shocking revelation and reminder of what can happen in a short period of time - this is what awaited me upon my return.
Thanks to Santa, we were able to find his obituary online and I was able to get in touch with his son and eventually his wife, to only confirm our worst fears. The saddest part of it all is that it was found out so late...only in April this year did we confirm this.
Gone, but not forgotten. A father, a grandfather, a friend and a Battlefield Vietnam veteran.
I wish that the in my own community all the efforts towards the same struggle would be encouraged and not clipped, but that's our own story now isn't it.