Tutorial: On Clan, Childe, and Being a Sire

The Clan page is important to familiarize yourself with early on!  Notice it has four tabs: Invite Friends, Add Friends, Sent Invites, and Clan Members.  This is also the page where you accept clan requests sent to you.  (BTW, joining clans, since you can't attack clan, is a common way to resolve disputes and make truces in the game, but of course whether you choose to clan someone is always up to you!)

Click to Enlarge

(1) The Invite Friends Tab is where you can send up to 6 invites at a time (it says 6 per day, but often coming back a few hours later works too).  The list here is generally composed of friends who don't play or who you haven't already sent a clan request to.  You can also send invites through your email here, after selecting names from the list and clicking the Send button. (Do NOT send from here if you don't want childe.)

Click to Enlarge

(2) As a young vamp, the Add Friends Tab is your best friend.  It shows all FB friends who already play VDS, and, with one click of the "Send Clan Requests" button, will ask ALL of them (who aren't already clan or who you haven't already sent a request to) to clan with you.  When you are new to the game and building your clan, go here regularly, every time you add a batch of new FB friends, to make sure they get a clan request from you!

Click to Enlarge

(3) The Sent Invites Tab is where you can see all the FB friends to whom you've sent invites who've yet to accept.  If you want to re-send (remind!) a friend of your clan request, you can "Cancel" the invite you already sent here, and then they will able to receive a new one (for example, if you click "Send Clan Requests" on the Add Friends Tab).

Click to Enlarge

(4) The Clan Members Tab shows everyone in your clan alphabetically by their VDS vampire name.    (Click on their yellow vampire name to go to their Sanctum, and then click their vampire name on their Sanctum again to get to their FB profile if you need to remember who they are on FB.)  On this tab you see at a glance your clannies' levels and ages, their bloodline (signified by the symbol you see at the upper right of each box there), and on this tab is where you can remove someone from your clan.  REMEMBER: De-friending, even Blocking, a person on Facebook does NOT remove them from you clan.  You must do it manually, and this is the tab where you do it.

When someone invites you to their clan, you will get an alert.  You can also go to your Clan page later to see invites.  Accept individually, or Accept All at once.  Rejections can only be done individually.

Why 501?  501 is the number of clan you need at minimum to succeed with most ease in the game, though you can continue to clan after you reach that number at your discretion.  The number of clan you have dictates how many "minders" you have for slaves (see info about slaves, below) and how many powers you use (i.e. how strong you are) in Fights.  These advantages max at 501 clan members (or "clannies"), but you can add clan members beyond that number if you choose.  Because clannies can't be fought, be careful about clanning your "food" or you won't have anyone to attack!  (After all, this is a fight game!)

Get to 501 clan ASAP!  You do this by adding FB friends who play VDS or inviting non-players to VDS.  When you add a friend for the purpose of clanning them in VDS, it is customary to say "VDS" or provide some similar explanation in the notes option while you send the friend request, so they understand why you are asking to be their friend.

When you are a young vamp it is common to ask for your sire, close clannies, or VDS family members to send you "Friend Suggestions" (FS, also called sending you FRs - friend requests).  They do this by clicking "suggest friends" at the bottom of the left-hand column on your FB profile.

It is also advisable to start managing your VDS friends early on using FB Friend Lists.  (Here, for example, I keep a Friend List of people in my VDS Family.)  If you play several FB games, you may want to have a Friend List for every game you play, so you know who your clannies/friends are in each game easily.  Manage your friends by going to "Account" in the top right on the blue Facebook bar, then "Edit Friends."  You can also add people to one of your lists when you first send them a friend request - use this to easily manage your friends!  Finally, having friends lists also helps you suggest friends to your friends who need help building clan, because when you Suggest friends to others you can narrow your options to those friends in a particular list; this helps you make sure you only suggest friends who play VDS!

Click to Enlarge

Childe:  I can't tell you how often a friend has discovered they have a "childe" without understanding how it happened!  A childe is a player that you invited into the game - you become their sire (like a parent).  You can see all your childe on the Slaves page; just go to the Childe tab (you'll see it in gray just above where the Black Blood Slaves appear).  You can end up with childe a number of ways: first, by having sent them an invite from the Invite Friends Tab; second, by having published an invite to your friends on your FB wall (notice that, on the Home page in VDS, at the very bottom right, there is a Publish button); third, you can also sire if someone joins VDS via one of your Loud & Proud posts (this is also on the Home page in VDS; just above "News and Updates" and below "Welcome Home" you'll notice different funny quotes that pop up; if you click on the phonograph icon next to the yellow player name you can publish that quote to your FB wall; it will be accompanied by a picture that says "Loud & Proud," so that's what we call these publications).  Benefits of having childe are several - first, they add to your blood flow, much like slaves, and the amount they add increases as they level (note that if you view your Childe on your Slaves page it tells you how much blood flow you are getting); second, any time they find a Relic during fights, you get to use it too!; finally, it's just fun and rewarding to help them!  :)

Are you a New Sire?  First, congrats!!!  Ideally, you will contact your Childe quickly to welcome them and offer your help.  They may not want it, and they may not even ever get into the game, but this is a kindness I hope you'll show them.  Ideally, next, you will provide advice, direction, clan suggestions, and other assistance as they learn and grow (but if you're not sure you're equipped, you can always ask a more advanced player or elder to help them). Many players in VDS take the sire/childe relationship very seriously!