The Syndicate 5 Year Anniversary
The Syndicate turned 5 years old in early 2001. This is a milestone accomplishment for alot of reasons. First off, although we have grown and matured, tightened standards and rid ourselves of problem children, its still the same basic guild we have always had. We believe in quality over quantity. We believe in friendship, teamwork and fun. We dont post flames on public boards or sh*t talk in game. We are mature, professionally acting gamers. We are anti-pk (although we enjoy pvp with consenting players) and we are anti-exploit/cheating/bug use. Secondly, we have maintained the same organized structure (that has since been mimiced by thousands of other guilds) with the same guildmaster for 5 years.

Another reason this is significant is purely numerical. The average lifespan of a guild is under 3 months. The average size is less than 20 people. The Syndicate, in 2001, is more than 500 people large and has existed for 5 years. It is, by far, the largest guild in existance and has done so for far longer than most ever will, making it in the top .001% of all guilds ever in the history of gaming. Over our time as a guild, literally, more than 200,000 guilds have risen and fallen. Of all the early UO and EQ guilds, most are gone. Of all the old Meridian and NWN guilds, most are gone. Some remain and they are special because of that but most have fallen by the wayside. Literally, thousands of players THOUGHT they could run a guild and create a team but proved themselves wrong. And most proved themselves wrong managing 20 people or less. Managing 500 people, across multiple gaming worlds is an epic challenge that The Syndicate has succeeded in.

When some players hear all those things they say things like "they may be big but they arent unified! they dont know each other! and they are all noobs since they take anybody!". All those are false statements made out of ignorance for how we work since we are secretive. The Syndicate has a private chatzone with thousands of posts used daily by its members. It maintains a private IRC server for only members with dozens in there at peak times. Each day, Dragons spends several hours writing a large update for the guild so everyone knows all things going on and coming up. The squad leaders send out supplimentary updates several times a week in email. There are exist a common set of objective rules that apply to all members and we known and followed by all members. And as for taking anyone :) If that were true we'd be 20,000 people large right now. The Syndicate receives more than 4,000 applications to join us each year. We take ONLY people we know, are friends with, and who are veteran gamers with a solid understanding of the games we are playing. So while The Syndicate is very large, its also very team oriented and community oriented. That is the true measure of our success and we are very proud of it.

As with all guilds, the past 5 years have had their share of problems. Members had to be kicked out for breaking core rules, or pkilling or bug use. Some members quit the guild unhappy with rules that existed or mad at other members. A great many of those have since tried to rejoin but thats not possible for them to do. Some still exist today as grief players talking trash, exaggerating stories and in some cases just making things up. In one example in early 2001 over on a Shadowbane board one of those players, speaking for him and his group of friends, publically posted he and his friends make up most of what they say simply to get a reaction and to piss people off. The idea they subscribe to is if you yell loud enough some people will believe you must be telling the truth. Unfortunately for them, a few loud mouthed grief players have 0 effect on a well established guild like The Syndicate.

Through growing, learning and expanding as a guild and through challenges and obstacles that came into our path, The Syndicate has always remained very strong, looking ever forward and meeting and exceeding all goals set for itself. 5 years is a tremendous accomplishment that few guilds will ever achieve. To those that have done so, kudos to you! To those aspiring to that goal, good luck! And to all the hundreds of Syndicate members... Long Live The Syndicate.