2018-2019

CU Shout Out    (September 2019):
Camelot Unchained was one of the raffle sponsors for SyndCon 2019 and they included a shout out after a box-o-schwag arrived at their offices to say Thank You. An excerpt is: To end this week’s update we’ve got a big thank you for the members of the The Syndicate guild, who sent us some SWAG from one of their recent events. Thanks guys for the thoughtful gift! I remember meeting several members at an event when I started working for CSE, years back, and came away impressed with their sense of camaraderie as well as enthusiasm for CU.

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UO at GDC 2018    (October 2018):
In 2018, at the annual GDC convention, a panel of Richard Garriott, Starr Long, Raph Koster and Rich Vogel, they looked back on 20+ years of UO and what went right and what went wrong. One of their shining examples of things gone right was the focus on community. At the 41:55 mark of the video they do a shout out to The Syndicate as we were the first and oldest guild involved in UO (and are even featured in the original print strategy guide they put out). You can see the video at youtube and the link is in the attached article.

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Holoseat    (September 2018):
Holoseat was back at SyndCon again this year and has made huge strides in their product. They released a blog post about the event and an excerpt is: Once more August meant it was time for Holoseat’s annual pilgrimage to SyndCon. This year we brought a little more than just our usual upgraded test hardware and presentations. For the first time since 2014 we brought something for the annual charity raffle. For those of you who are not familiar with the SyndCon charity raffle, it is a convention-long event covering everything from video games to collectibles to gaming hardware. The proceeds go to a great cause, a chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. The culmination of SyndCon is the hour plus raffle drawing with the entire convention gathered round eagerly waiting to hear their names called. It really is a sight to behold.

Back in 2014, we brought one of the very first revisions along with us and tossed it into the raffle. Lots of people thought it was awesome, but it was very much a prototype. Still, as Syndicate president Sean Stalzer says, this was the beginning of a great relationship for Holoseat.

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UO Book Mention    (July 2018):
In 2018 a book was published about the history of UO. The Syndicate participated in the book via interviews and Q&A about the game and the guild. Shortly before it came out, sections were highlighted by the author. Here is a highlight of The Syndicate and its guildmaster.

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GWR For 22 Years    (Mar 2018):
The process of updating a Guiness World Record can be a lengthy one. It is not sufficient to claim a record. It is not sufficient to point to a webpage regardless of what that page says. You need a variety of independent, verifable, trustworthy sources. Even to renew/update a record, that takes time. As such, we skipped right over the 21 year record and landed at the 22 year record by the time that process completed for our latest record setting approval. There are always naysayers who say the are an older guild. However, The Syndicate doesn't claim to be the first guild. We hold the record for the longest, continuously operating guild. Some old guilds have disbanded/retired and then come back years later (or someone came out and used the name claiming lineage). That doesn't count. Some guilds merged with others along the way, adjusting their name but trying to claim lineage back to the start of the first entity. That doesn't count. Continuous opertation.. as a single entity.. no taking a break... no merging... no retiring... no imploding and reforming. Continual opertaion for 22+ years.. as an entity... is what this record is all about.

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GDC 2018    (Mar 2018):
One of The Syndicate's top officers happens to also be a game developer and was attending GDC 2018 and went to the Ultima Panel. Richard Garriott, Starr Long, Raph Koster (Designer Dragon) and Rich Vogel were speaking. In one of their slides showing historical UO community related things and The Syndicate wsa featured on the slide.. twice.. an old Guinness World Record of ours was show (the record is much longer now).. and a picture of us at SyndCon was shown. That was SyndCon 2009.. They even asked if there were any Syndies in the audience. Of course there were. Gotta love it!

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22nd Anniversary Thoughts from KingsIsle    (Feb 2018):
The Syndicate has had a long relationship with the folks at KingsIsle, even before there was a KingsIsle and the original founders were over making Shadowbane. They have been good friends and we have enjoyed testing and supporting their games. Many members spent long hours playing Wizard 101 and Pirates 101 with their kids and building some lasting memories.

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22nd Anniversary Thoughts from Shrouddd    (Feb 2018):
The team at Portalarium shared some thoughts on The Syndicate's 22nd anniversary. An excerpt is: Annually they host SyndCon where several hundred members get together for 5 days. We at Portalarium have attended for the past several years and there is never a shortage of questions, comments and ideas about Shroud of the Avatar. In fact, the idea for the dragon statue that you can buy from the online store and even the very earliest concepts of player run towns came out of SyndCon.

The Syndicate stands out as the progenitor to what modern guilds have become. Since their founding, almost 100 million other guilds have come and gone yet they have found some kind of secret sauce to keep their presence alive and they are not shy about helping other communities tweak their formula for success when asked.

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