Scrim chat

This thread is mainly for the benefit of less established clans or less competitive ones, but I think a lot of top-tier teams can learn a thing or two from it, also. I'll be outlining the effects of poor communication through public chat or even ventrilo that can be misconstrued into something slanderous or demeaning. This thread could be considered an add-on to LucK's Scrim Etiquette guide.

Public chat (also known as MM1)
MM1 is a very narrow field of communication, and probably the most common place where miscommunication takes place between clans. Usually it is used to talk to the other team, seeing as there's also a chat window only visible to teammates (MM2). Obviously, you cannot hear/see the opponent's tone of voice, facial expression, or even how they would space the syllables of their message out. All of these are factors that we use to determine is a statement should be taken literally or as a joke. So I suggest unless you're very familiar with your opponent and how they respond to provocative statements, it's better not to type anything that can be taken arbitrarily. Therefore, you must be careful with what you type into MM1 unless you're out to deliberately destroy your reputation, and indirectly, your own teams'.

Voice chat
Talking trash about the other team is a mistake often made on ventrilo. It reflects in your gameplay. If you call a team bad, you and your teammates start to play like they're a bad team, and that's when it gets sloppy. If you play like that often, your game won't improve at all. Another common mistake is jokingly calling your teammates "bad." This can be detrimental to a player's compatibility with the team. I'm not talking about him going off to cry in a corner because you're so mean, no. When a player is constantly berated by his own teammates, he seeks to prove them wrong and the best way to do that is to frag. When that's the only goal in a player, he holds the wrongs spots, makes late calls, and dumb peeks to improve his own score and not the team's. The other mistake I've seen is people hackusating opponents on vent. When you hear that, you may think nothing of it, but it affects your gameplay. It varies for different people, but everyone who heard the hackusation will start playing inappropriately on at least a small level against that certain player/team. When you think someone is hacking, don't bother saying it on vent, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SAY IT IN MM1. If the player is 100% blatant, there's no need to say anything; the team knows.

Those are a few guidelines that every clan should know about, and if put into affect, make the clan server more enjoyable for everyone. I know I myself haven't always followed them, but I'll do my best in the future and encourage whatever team I'm on to do the same.