February
1st, 2012 -- The Syndicate® (
The Syndicate -
Premier Online Gaming Guild) is
pleased to announce that we have
reached our 16th year of success as an
online gaming community. Founded in
1996, The Syndicate boasts over 1200
members yet has a ninety nine percent
retention rate with over ninety-five
percent of its membership having been
with the organization for several
years or longer. Within the online
gaming world that combination of size,
longevity and retention is
unparalleled by any other
organization. By way of comparison,
since The Syndicate was created over
58,000,000 other guilds have been
created and ceased to exist. While
longevity itself is not a measure of
success, when married with an insanely
high retention rate plus a lengthy
list of unique achievements, The
Syndicate has a demonstrated track
record of success in the online
community space.
Throughout its 16 years, The Syndicate
has set the mark for excellence in a
number of ways. The foundation of the
success of the guild was created
through established a strict and well
managed recruiting policy. In order to
join The Syndicate one must be close
friends with the guild; have a
compatible personality and gaming play
style; and be looking for long term
membership that is based heavily
around building personal relationships
with other members of the guild. That
focus has led to the creation of a
'drama free' environment with
unparalleled retention which in turn
has allowed for deep friendships to
form.
In addition to that foundational
premise, The Syndicate sets the bar
for success in the online community
space. Among the many successes of the
organization are:
* Guinness World Record holder for the
oldest, continuously operated online
gaming guild. This record was updated
in 2011 and was featured in printed
versions of the Guinness World Record
books.
* Two books have been published about
The Syndicate. The most recent one was
published in 2011 entitled Beyond The
Legend and has sold several thousand
copies. It not only discusses some of
The Syndicate's history but has a
large section sharing one model to
creating a successful online community
and another section discussing the
future of MMO gaming. lulu.com and
amazon.com carry both books.
* Featured in the MMORPG documentary
Second Skin which has been seen around
the world both in the theaters and on
television. You will also find some
'talking head' moments in Richard
Garriott's recent documentary Man on a
Mission that were filmed during
SyndCon 2009.
* Founded a strategy guide writing
studio working for Prima Games to
usher in a new era of quality strategy
guides for MMO, RPG, FPS and RTS
games. This past year saw 9 strategy
guides written and published.
* Became the first online gaming
entity to trademark its name (along
with the logo and slogan). That
Trademark is now five years old and
protects The Syndicate name from use
as a guild name or on an associated
web-page. This past year saw paperwork
filed to protect the name and an
agreement with EA about their usage
for their upcoming Syndicate video
game and our protected usage within
all EA games.
* Founded the most successful real
life 'guild' event in the history of
online gaming. SyndCon celebrated its
tenth year of success in 2011 with
several hundred Syndicate members,
developer friends and special guests
in attendance.
* Helping to shape the future of
MMORPGs as it has for many years now,
through close relationships with a
vast number of game developers.
Support has run the gamut from focus
testing to consulting to design and
everywhere in between.
* Raised thousands of dollars to
support our chosen charity
organizations: Youth Opportunity
Unlimited and the American Cancer
society. Donations are raised via our
annual charity raffle supported by our
industry friends. 2011 saw our biggest
year yet for donations.
* Formed strategic relationships with
both hardware and software developers
including Alienware and Bigfoot
Networks.
The Syndicate continues to push the
boundaries of what an entity, founded
within the online gaming space, can
achieve. With a lengthy track record
of success; a motivated, mature and
professional membership; and a strong
vision for the future, The Syndicate
is both proud of its fifteen years of
success and very excited about the
opportunities that the future holds.
Long Live The Syndicate!
-- For more information please visit
us at
The Syndicate -
Premier Online Gaming Guild