Actually it has been mentioned before. Clans, in Shinobi Life Online, are going to be what other MMO's would consider a guild.
You don't have to join one if you don't want to. Joining a clan wont automatically switch your element or give you a kekkei genkai, nor can they be earned/quested for. (if we did that people would join clans just to switch their element whenever they wanted, also it would defeat the purpose of the kekkei genkai system we set up. Not everyone is supposed to have a special ability; you have to be born (created) with it. If we made joining a clan give you a kekkei genkai, everyone would have one, and that would ruin the exclusiveness.)
If you really want to be a part of a clan with a special ability as part of its "bloodline", that is still a possibility. People who are born with kekkei genkai's will be able to generate a code which can be entered for someone else at their character creation. With this code a new character will have a 35% chance to gain the kekkei genkai passed down to them. This will allow you to join them and become a clan with that bloodline ability.
(i personally believe that if you use the code, you should automatically be a part of that person's clan or at the very least have to use their last name, since you're technically one of their kids, lol, but hey, I can only dream)
Recently I've had some awesome ideas for how this will all be regulated.
Guilds in other games will be pretty much the same as organizations in Shinobi Life Online. Clans however, will be purely blood related. It will be something unique to Shinobi Life Online and unseen in any other game.
Every unique family name will result in a new clan. If the family name of your character is the first of its kind, then you are the first of that clan and you can be considered its leader. From this point on, other people can choose the same family name and will automatically become member of your clan. Changing your family name will not be possible so leaving a clan will not be either.
If you discover at a much later stage in your character's life that you were born with a special power, then you will be given the opportunity to create a new clan, i.e. change your family name. This will be your new clan and you will be its leader. You will also be given (let's say) 3 DNA codes that you can pass on to people for use at character creation IF you chose to create a new clan. The point of this new clan will be for it to result in a clan where a Kekkei Genkai is circulating as a result of the first member's special power.
This code will have (let's say) a 35% chance of success. It can immediately be used and the user will be notified if the DNA code was successful or unsuccessful. If the DNA code turns out to be successful, then the character that is about to be created by the user of that DNA code will guaranteed awaken a Kekkei Genkai (respective to the DNA code used) when the time comes. This new character with a guaranteed Kekkei Genaki will also be given 3 DNA codes himself when he awakens his Kekkei Genkai with the goal of expanding his clan.
People will be free to choose their family name at character creation and therefore free to choose their clan, with the exception of choosing a clan (and therefore family name) where a Kekkei Genkai is present. Because as explained above, joining them can only happen with a successful DNA code.
Finally, suppose someone turns out to be born with a special power, gets the opportunity to create a new Kekkei Genkai clan and chooses to do so. However, all of his DNA codes fail to produce healthy offsprings, leaving that person the only member of that Kekkei Genkai clan. Then that clan will not be considered a Kekkei Genkai clan any longer and will be unlocked and open for anyone to join. Any scenario of a Kekkei Genkai clan resulting in only one member and no more DNA codes to be used will result in that clan turning into a regular clan and being unlocked and open to all.
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