2002 Syndicate World Conference
Sept 13/14/15 of 2002, The Syndicate held its World Conference in Washington DC. At that point
in the gaming world, some guilds might gather 8-12 people together to talk and drink beer. This
was the first time a huge conference was ever attended and like all things The Syndicate does,
it was large and and done with a focus on quality. Almost 100 members attended the conference
with 50+ more participating via conference call. The conference instantly became the largest
single guild gathering in the history of online gaming.
On Saturday we held a large guild
meeting. Invited to that meeting was our special guest speaker: Chris
"Vosx" Mancil. To us, his pledge of attendance at the meeting spoke
volumes for Ubisofts commitment to Shadowbane and their recognition of
groups that have existed for years and have had a large affect on the
gaming world. One question im sure all well organized guilds are asking
is: How much commitment is there from Ubisoft and will we have too many
broken promises when the game goes live? The fact that they do show up
for major events such as these, showed they do have a firm commitment.
As the meeting got underway, Vosx wasnt there yet. The guildmaster,
Dragons, concluded his talk to the assembled group plus another 50 or so
people on a conference call listening in. Still no Vosx. Migrations
Coordinator and guild Advisor Faust was introduced and he discussed
various major games in development, our relationship with those
companies and our thoughts on those games. Still no Vosx. Just as
Faust was about to conclude and we'd begin "winging it" with a talk on
Shadowbane, Vosx strode through the door. His grand entrance was
perfectly timed and soon the podium was his.
Vosx talked for 2 hours and then hung around all afternoon and into the evening
talking to players 1:1. He got thunderous applause when he told every
person present that they would get into the beta. He later raised the number
to 150 accounts allowing some of the members who couldnt attend, to also get into the beta.
The weekend was a smashing success. Dozens of members got to know each other
very well. We partied. We talked. We had meetings. We learned about Shadowbane. We
discussed future leadership roles and how to better lead the guild into the future. And we
clearly transcended the boundries between gaming guild and player community. Not only
was the record for largest single guild gathering shattered in a way most guilds can
never hope to break, but The Syndicate solidified itself even more and grew stronger and
larger.
Once the weekend was over, lots of media attention was focused on the event. A video of
Vosx's question and answer was released. Syndicate members got to see pictures of fellow
members. The Syndicate once again set the standard for the online gaming world. The 2002
conference was a HUGE success! No sooner had the conference ended than planning began for the
2003 conference.
After the weekend ended, many news sites released writeups about the weekend and many players saw the video
and The Syndicate made new friends and allies as a result. Some of the more noteworthy
articles are:
Warcry's Writeup
UbiSofts Writeup
SB Vault Explains Things To Whiners
