Full Interview With YOUJO

1984BigBrother: How did Youjo first start?Tamagakure: It was originally supposed to be the spiritual rebuild of SHOJO, but things didn’t work out so the rebuild moved to YOUJO instead. Gravy: Old SHOJO members and friends at first then the clan I was in at the time, FAM died after the camo race between them and YOUJO. Then a solid group of the FAM players went over to YOUJO and that’s how the clan kicked off. Afterwards we started picking up players from all over the place and fought clans and played tournaments to get our name out there and known. BookHorse: There’s an old joke that we’re just SHOJO version four, which isn’t too far from the truth. Like many clans, we started from pretty much nothing after a bit of clan drama, but thankfully we had a great commander to keep us together and recruit new talent. There have been a number of players who have come and gone who have kept us climbing up the leaderboards as well as players who stepped up and took on the responsibility of clan operations, but Tamagakure was always the linchpin of the entire operation.  What is your clan’s vision?Tamagakure: To keep improving and showing that we can play at the number 1 level, without losing ourselves as a result. Also we want to hopefully contribute to NA’s grand comeback under our glorious leader 1984BigBrother. JxMAN20: To prove everyone wrong. We have always felt that people have looked down on us. We just want to play the game and keep getting better and correcting our mistakes as we do it.  Elevendy: Prove that any clan or player can become the best. BookHorse:  Personally I’ve got 20/20 vision, not really sure this question is appropriate.What is your greatest accomplishment(s) as a clan?Tamagakure: Defying death multiple times, taking first for everything in the recent season, overcoming insane odds. Elevendy: Defying absurd odds and facing off against the monument pillars that are the WoT oldguard. Gravy: Taking 4th in the last Clan Cup when our clan was only around for a few months, fighting other tops clans through wars and being successful such as R-7 and VILIN in our first few global map seasons, Performing above our weight in Operation Gambit campaign only to throw 3rd place by not playing the last day, clan surviving during our weakest state during the last mini campaign(should’ve killed the clan), and recently taking part in server wars and placing well in recent tournaments. JxMAN20: Taking 1st in the Season 10 GM and then 1st in the Season 10 Playoffs. It was the first time we were able to get 1st overall and I believe we proved a lot during the season and especially during the playoffs.  Ghost: Throwing against -G- in Season 9! How is YOUJO set apart from everyone else?Tamagakure: We are always striving to improve ourselves as both players and people. We realize we are very much human and thus are prone to making mistakes, but we always make an effort to learn from that and better ourselves. Gravy: There’s something about the clan that keeps the core players around even though most of us have left a few times. We always manage to come back. Maybe it’s Tama and his persuasive skills or the fact that we really don’t want to be in any other clan which leaves us with YOUJO. HeavyObject: We have a discord channel dedicated to Steam and Diesel Locomotives.How do you keep your members motivated to show up every day?Macca01: Codes that provide gold and bonds during payouts. Awkward social encounters on teamspeak. BookHorse: For those of us who aren’t too socially awkward, it’s fun to log in and talk to everyone while playing a couple of matches, there’s a great community of people and they all have their distinct personalities that make clan activities worth showing up to. It’s great to be a part of the team, especially when you’re winning. Tamagakure: Keeping a good community, meming on players and getting memed on in turn, making good memories, rewarding people who put in the time to make this clan great.  HeavyObject: A Great community of funny people who make every night entertaining, and credits! Gravy: We always run platoons and Strongholds for people to play together and talk amongst each other. As well as always having good, fun, and close fights in Advances or on the Global Map against other tops clans. Usually there is always something to do which helps in keeping the clan active.Your clan is part of a community of clans. Which clan(s) make up that community and what is your relationship with them?Tamagakure: Originally NICO, -PSS9-, and MAKI, morphed into SEIKO, which then morphed into NUFFS and -PS9-. We also have a WoWS clan called SHOJO. All have shared our ts, befriended our members, and done their part while they were a thing. Especially Kona. JxMAN20: We are usually open to helping smaller clans for me personally this is a way to help them get on their feet. We have Nuffs, PS9, and Seiko all with us. We are able to help them with strats, correcting their mistakes, and showing them what we do to succeed. If you could change anything about the competitive scene in WoT, what would it be?Elevendy: Clan wars 24/7. Gravy: Bring back tier 10 Strongholds outside of advances. And more Clan Tournaments like Call to Arms on the weekends. More international matches like MAHOUvFAME  between NA and EU clans even SEA clans. HeavyObject: Remove Type 5 > Ghost: Abolish ANIMAE clans! Tamagakure: Bring back attack/defense strongholds, reduce rng. BookHorse: I wish there was more incentive for lower tier clans to come try it out and give us some competition, something fun and easily accessible.  Dudetheprincess: More opportunities to gain some lower tier Clan Wars tanks. JxMAN20: Bringing back a professional esports scene.Speaking from your player experience, what differences have you noticed by going from a player not in a clan to being in a clan and then being an officer in the clan?Elevendy: I was an extremely antisocial player, and rather shy when it came to online gaming. Most of the time when I was grinding through lines, I would keep to myself and exclusively communicate through text chat. After getting the tanks I wanted, I was looking for something a little bit more, and wanted to be part of something that I could be proud of. I ended up being dragged along for tournaments with friends, and through the pressure of competitive play ended up learning how to actually communicate with other people and enjoy the time I’m spending with others, even if it is just for a simple shared goal. However, once joining groups such as these, and eventually clans, most players are revealed to a whole new world of undocumented information and tips about the game you may never have come across before, as well as entirely new skills to develop on top of the skills you’ve already mastered. You start to notice that as the higher you go up in terms of performance in clans, the more you are individually valued as a player and person amongst the entire competitive scene. You’ll get offers from other clans of similar level, and unique rewards in-game will become something expected. Through in-game flankcalling, I ended up becoming a high end officer in YOUJO, and once some of YOUJO’s older officers dropped, I ended up being put in the hotseat for decision making in a top clan. If you’re ever looking for something in this game that is more than just shooting pixel tanks, running a clan is definitely it, and making a clan clan wars ready is another level on top of that. You will learn to value things such as clan and player administration, diplomacy, recruitment, and battle calling, and once you’ve finally found the place you’d like to call home, you’ll start to really appreciate the amount of time and effort people sacrifice on an almost 100 man scale. For a player who started in 2011, it took me nearly 6 years to find a home that I wanted to be apart of and invest my time and love into. For me as an officer in my clan of choice, every day that I spend 8+ hours into improving my clan is more than any enjoyment I could gain from just playing the game by myself. While I was not born an officer and was never asked to be one, I do my tasks out of the sheer passion for my clan to enjoy this game as much as I do, as well as being proud of how far each player has come, and where they are. BookHorse: I started playing this game at a very low skill level, where I’d press the battle button and die, only to repeat the process fifteen more times before logging off. That all changed when I began to accept friend requests and platoon invites, I soon found out that playing games with other people was much more fun than playing by myself. Eventually I started getting better and better until I figured I’d give a shot at joining a clan. It’s funny now but my dream was to be in MAHOU, I guess that never really worked out. You notice the difference immediately as soon as you’re in a TeamSpeak with three tabs open frantically coordinating an attack plan, the feeling of camaraderie is addictive and the gold doesn’t hurt either. YOUJO was the first time I ever felt like I was on top, and I showed up to every game to prove my worth as I started doing simple clan operations as an officer. I’ve noticed throughout my tenure in YOUJO that being in a clan is the best way to become a better player and person. JxMAN20: The biggest difference was being around players that all wanted to get better which in turn helped me improve greatly. We were all able to share what we knew and to help each other. It is also great being able to form friendships with people all working towards the same goal of helping the clan grow and get better. Being in a clan also makes it a lot easier to make gold and earn credits because you can run strongholds whenever you want.  Ghost: My gold went from 250 to 80,000!           HeavyObject: 907What is your favorite song?HeavyObject: She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy - Kenny Chesney Elevendy: My Chemical Romance - Thank You For The Venom JxMAN20: Therapy Session - NF & Lie - NF & If You Want Love - NF Gravy: Post Malone - Big Lie  BookHorse: Welcome to My Mine - Mcap Steve
           Ghost: Sweatshirt - Jacob Sartorius  Macca01: any song by Disturbed Dudetheprincess: Porter Robinson & Madeon - Shelter Tamagakure: Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love, Queen - It’s Late, Billy Joel - Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Paramore - Hard Times, Panic! At the Disco - Death of a Bachelor Any last comments?JxMAN20: It’s just YOUJO btw. Notch123 & Tom_OBJ are bad. HeavyObject: Shout out TO MY LARGE LADS. And Verishady for teaching me! Gravy: “My name’s QuattroQuattro I can spell my name twice” - Perfect 6th Campaign  Ghost: I forgot to put in my code  Dudetheprincess: Shout out to that guy who never shows up to CW Elevendy: Thanks for denying me from BULBA and OTTER in 2015. BookHorse: Please message YOUJO Executive Officer Elevendy for free M60 codes. JxMAN20 YOUJO Commander 2019! CaptainJack5 fastest citadel in the westUp and OverEverytimeVyroooomm Wow! Tamagakure: Have a great new year, everyone.