What's a clan?

[Steely Jim]

There does seem to be a lot of names for the same thing, doesn't there? The anthropological terminology isn't much more clear either, with sib, gens, sept, among others, being used to mean clan. Clann is a Gaelic word for a particular family unit.

In general, clans involve multiple lineages that all claim common ancestry to one particular person (possibly even a quasi-mythical or legendary person); whereas, a guild is a common-interest association, often associated with some sort of trade skill (also often has quasi-mystic elements and rituals).

I would say that most gaming organizations would really be common-interest associations (i.e. guilds); but, I've also seen organizations that were formed around 1 or a few legendary characters and/or strong elements of fictive kinship being professed by members of the organization.