How important is the social aspect in your game?

[Renex]

I have a few questions about the social aspect of browser & social games.

1. How important is the social aspect in your game?
2. Is your game oriented around building a community?
3. What facilities do you have to engage networking between users?
4. On what criteria are your users usually grouping in clans/alliances?
5. Is it location based?
6. How important is the location factor?

[Chris]

1. Extremely important.
2. No (I know it looks weird with the above, but it is basicly a lone player game, community's purpose is not to give you any in-game bonuses).
3. Need for information exchange, free "resources" that are 100% worthless to you but important to others (you give it to others but you don't lose it yourself).
4. None, free will.
5. No.
6. Irrelevant (the game was designed with nothing limiting unrestricted social interaction).

[CygnusX]

Not for a game I have, but a game I'm currently developing after many years of attempts, but failures.

1) Very very important.
2) No.  The game is built around building your empire.  The social aspect is designed to be a major component of this.
3) Resource bonuses that can be given by friends (but cost the giver nothing), information exchange, count-strike buffs for attacking someone who attacked an ally, sense of protection when belonging to a group, group based techs, group based buildings, group based artifacts.
4) Maximum cap on group size for factions, trade partners, etc (which can be increased through tech).
5) No
6) Irrelevant.