April Fools 2011
The following was a prank press release played on members of The Syndicate. Accompanying it were changes to the internal forums logos to reflect the change in policy.
April 1st, 2011 -- The Syndicate® (www.LLTS.org) is pleased to announce today that we once again have set another World First within the Virtual Community space. In our quest to refine our model for developing successful online gaming communities, The Syndicate is declaring it's support for the increasing proliferation of the Free to Play (F2P) mindset in the MMORPG gaming space. It is becoming increasingly clear that the growth of Free to Play products in the online gaming arena is not going to dissipate. With more and higher quality titles emerging into the market place, The Syndicate has decided that rather than fight the tide, we will embrace it and adopt that model within our guild.
Throughout its 15 years, The Syndicate has set the mark for excellence in a number of ways. Beginning today, The Syndicate raises the bar for the future of Community Excellence by putting in place a Micro-Transaction based model for all aspects of our guild.
Our micro-transaction based services include, but are not limited to the following menu:
Value Menu!
For $1 each, members can avail themselves of the following high quality services.
* Guilding an Alternate Character
* Access to the guild forums
* Speaking In Guildsay (50 lines of text)
* Un-Muted In Ventrilo (5 minutes)
* Reguilding (if we "accidentally" removed your toon overnight. whoops!)
Premium Menu!
These services cost more but offer even more value!
* Spot on a guild raid - $5
* +10 to your next phat l00t roll - $5 (can stack up to 10 times)
* One Month of Raid Spots - $50 (25% discount!)
* Promotion To Squad Leader - $50 (for a 1 week power trip)
* Promotion to Raid Leader - $75 (for a week of controlling l00t distribution)
Required Services!
In order to be a Syndicate member, individuals must purchase the following services. For the ease and comfort of our members, a CC will be kept on file and charges billed auto-magically.
* Access to the Daily Guild Information Letter - First one is Free. Each Additional is 99 cents!
* Regular D-Mail Spam (err, valuable information!) - 10 cents per D-Mail sent
* Membership Retention Fee - $1 per month
* Mentoring for Poor DPS - $5/session
* Orientation Class on Micro-Transactions - $5
External Services!
The following are some commonly requested services by people not in The Syndicate
* Application Processing Fee - $100
* Obtain Member Sponsorship For Application - $250/sponsor
* Rejoining The Guild Fee - $1000
* Access To One Random Syndicate seKreT - $500
Dragons, the chief DICtator for The Syndicate, expressed his thoughts about the conversion to a Micro-Transaction model by saying, "I have always wondered how I could get rich off running this juggernaut of a guild. I believe the micro-transaction model will achieve that goal. My monetizing every aspect of the guild I will soon be rolling in dollar bills. This plan is genius! Why I didn't think of it sooner alludes me."
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 now moves into an era of monetizing that success and turning virtual phat l00ts into real world bling. Long Live The Micro-Transaction!
