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[NEWS] The Syndicate - Beyond The Legend

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Xena Dragon

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A while ago I was informed about a new book "The Syndicate - Beyond The Legend" by Sean Stalzer, also known as Lord Dragons, Guildmaster of The Syndicate. The book is a sequel to "Legend of the Syndicate", which covered the first ten years of the guild.

My own Ultima Online experience goes back to 1997, where I played on the Atlantic shard and I distinctly remember several characters on that shard having LLTS attached to their names. This was before player guilds and guild abbreviations were available in the game, so a character's name was the logical spot to show your guild affiliation. LLTS stands for "Long Live The Syndicate", which is the slogan and battle cry of the guild.

Who would have thought that fourteen years later The Syndicate would still be around, or even that they would be publishing a (second) book about their history. All this made me want to read the book to see what memories (if any) would be brought back to me.

The subtitle of the book is "Secrets to creating a succesful online community". The first section starts with a recap of the first ten years of the guild and then focuses on the years from 2007 until now. Because The Syndicate is a guild that is present in most popular MMO's the book you will find interesting reads about EverQuest, Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online and of course Ultima Online. Also, there are some chapters dedicated to the yearly Syndicate conference, known as SyndCon, where guild members and representatives of the game development companies meet each other.

The second section of the book explains the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. factors that you need to create and maintain a succesful guild. Those are Stability, Understanding, Culture, Compatibility, Excellence, Size and Staying Focused. If you are serious about running a guild and be there for the long run, I highly recommend reading this section.

The third section of the book is about the future of online gaming, and focuses on the expectations of players today. Such as; Community Tools, the "Always on" and "Play anywhere" concepts, Setting the proper difficulty level and Communication.

After reading the book I found myself pleasantly surprised. Even though the amount of Ultima Online references in the book is small compared to the ones related to other MMO's (mostly WoW) there were quite a few memories brought back to me. And the second and third sections of the book are an interesting read, no matter what MMO you are playing right now.

Further reading:
- The Syndicate website
- Order book at Lulu

Xena Dragon
 

WildWobble

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Ahh the syndicate you must mean the litter bugs dropping books all over. Don't bother reading that drivel. then again we read stratics not much worse i guess.
 

NuSair

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Ahh the syndicate you must mean the litter bugs dropping books all over. Don't bother reading that drivel. then again we read stratics not much worse i guess.
Hey now! I've gotten a couple of pairs of glasses thanks to those books! :party:

But, I agree any contact I've had with them has been nothing but awful.
 

PASmountaindew

Babbling Loonie
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Yep we toss these in the trash on sonoma a lot too....
Keep it on atlantic....
I totally agree with Sir Scott. Keep all the syndicate books on Atl. On Sonoma we have our own version of the Syndicate and the guild is PAS - People's Army of Sonoma. We don't drop books advertising our guild or website.
 
T

Tazar

Guest
I think it's safe to say that the books really aren't wanted on Atlantic either...
 

LadyNico

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Bad form. Shouldn't The Syndicate just buy advertising on Stratics?
 

Lady Storm

Grand Inquisitor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If I see them they get tossed! Atlantic has too many of the players that belong to the rest of the shards..... send some home.
 
S

Silverbrook

Guest
With all due respect, this comes across more like an advertisement.

I will echo the sentiments of others. Whenever word of this guild is brought up, it almost is synonymous with distaste shown by most. I would simply ask in the future that posts like this are not brought to stratics, as it simply creates this kind of response from others.
 
F

Fayled Dhreams

Guest
With all due respect, this comes across more like an advertisement.

I will echo the sentiments of others. Whenever word of this guild is brought up, it almost is synonymous with distaste shown by most. I would simply ask in the future that posts like this are not brought to stratics, as it simply creates this kind of response from others.
It IS an advertisement of a sorts
recruiting poster more accurately

A Large group of well established players
dedicated to playing by the rules
within the different "modes" of the game
Familiar with UO & Other game models

enough established reputation and "creds" to be invited for high level tours.
humph ... profile out as >exactly< what the game needs ...
but
Whenever word of this guild is brought up ...
Oh ... YOU haven't actually interviewed with them ...
ya know ...
Seen for yourself?

we have a strong focus on growing our community, building friendships and in making the online gaming community better for all gamers.
yeah ... don't want NONE of that on stratics ...
 

RaDian FlGith

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This is a book review, can we just accept it as that?
Sure... and as such, having very little to do with UO, and definitely not sanctioned [NEWS] (note the improper use of the [NEWS] tag...), I would ask though that the post be moved to OFF TOPIC.

Thank you. :)
 
K

Kiminality

Guest
Sometimes, you people make me ashamed to be playing the same game as you.
This is one of those times.
 

NuSair

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
This is a book review, can we just accept it as that?
Even though the amount of Ultima Online references in the book is small compared to the ones related to other MMO's (mostly WoW)...
Xena Dragon
Sure... and as such, having very little to do with UO, and definitely not sanctioned [NEWS] (note the improper use of the [NEWS] tag...), I would ask though that the post be moved to OFF TOPIC.
I agree that it doesn't belong in UHall.
 
K

Kiminality

Guest
And yet you all keep replying, bumping it up to the top of the first page...
The best thing you can do is ignore it, if you don't like it. The forums aren't a democracy, you can't vote posts out of the Uhall house if you find them disagreeable.
Ignore the posts you don't like, and the chances of them falling off the first page increase.

If you post your disagreement, then you're not only bumping the post, but you're also likely to be pissing off the actual mods with all the backseat modding.
 

Chad Sexington

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
If I wrote a book about Ultima Online, could I make an advertisement thread?

(Serious question. I actually have an unfinished 90 thousand world manuscript on a non-fiction informational topic, unrelated to UO. But I like writing and this is an option.)
 
C

ChReuter

Guest
Once again, maybe it's all the fentanyl, but I've always got the feeling that Dragons is just a bit full of himself.
 

FrejaSP

Queen of The Outlaws
Professional
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Campaign Patron
Thanks for posting it Xena.
I too remember The Syndicate from early UO. UO was alot more wild and dangerous at that time. The players needed to depend of each others and the communities was builded to help players to survive in this wild world.

I remember The Syndicate as a strong blue guild, trying to stand together against the many reds we had at that time.
There was alot of frustration, because all lowed this new virtuel world called Ultima Online but some just wanted a peaceful life without risk of dying for other players hand.

At that time, you was a part of the blue comunity and hated and feared the red community or you was a part of the red community. Not all reds was PK's, some went red with a mistake and found out the hard way, that the blue community not was all good but the blue PK's, called noto PK's first become a problem when a player went red or grey.

I remember The Syndicate as a guild, who successed being a good blue guild without alot noto PK's in their rank and only going after the reds who was PK's and did make trouble for their members and other innocents.

Even when I went red and did PK (as a roleplayer with little looting), I never remember getting trouble with them but I do remember them ressing me a few times when I meet them as ghost and had to traveling to Chaos to get a res or depend of other players. There was no red healers at that time. They respected me for my playstyle.

I think it's hard for players, who did not play before Trammel to understand, what the game was at that time. The communities was much stronger. You did not go alone to a dungeon, sometimes not even outside town. You would go to the bank, try to find someone to hunt with to be safe in numbers.

Most blue had no PvP skills, because they could not train with an other blue as attacking a blue would make you lose noto and after a few times, you would end up red. The only way to learn to fight players was to have red friends and very few blue had that.

Because of that, reds was so much better to fight, that a single red could easy kill a little group blue and that made the blue fear PK's even more. Guilds like The Syndicate did have blue who was able to fight and they tryed to help their weaker members.

I may buy the book, I may even write a book myself someday about the effect UO had had at my life.
 

GalenKnighthawke

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
It's sad, the degree to which this mythology of the pre-Trammel days is continually perpetuated.

*shrugs*

Oh well. Clearly, continually saying what it was actually like, as I've done for years, has done no good whatsoever.

-Galen's player

Thanks for posting it Xena.
I too remember The Syndicate from early UO. UO was alot more wild and dangerous at that time. The players needed to depend of each others and the communities was builded to help players to survive in this wild world.

I remember The Syndicate as a strong blue guild, trying to stand together against the many reds we had at that time.
There was alot of frustration, because all lowed this new virtuel world called Ultima Online but some just wanted a peaceful life without risk of dying for other players hand.

At that time, you was a part of the blue comunity and hated and feared the red community or you was a part of the red community. Not all reds was PK's, some went red with a mistake and found out the hard way, that the blue community not was all good but the blue PK's, called noto PK's first become a problem when a player went red or grey.

I remember The Syndicate as a guild, who successed being a good blue guild without alot noto PK's in their rank and only going after the reds who was PK's and did make trouble for their members and other innocents.

Even when I went red and did PK (as a roleplayer with little looting), I never remember getting trouble with them but I do remember them ressing me a few times when I meet them as ghost and had to traveling to Chaos to get a res or depend of other players. There was no red healers at that time. They respected me for my playstyle.

I think it's hard for players, who did not play before Trammel to understand, what the game was at that time. The communities was much stronger. You did not go alone to a dungeon, sometimes not even outside town. You would go to the bank, try to find someone to hunt with to be safe in numbers.

Most blue had no PvP skills, because they could not train with an other blue as attacking a blue would make you lose noto and after a few times, you would end up red. The only way to learn to fight players was to have red friends and very few blue had that.

Because of that, reds was so much better to fight, that a single red could easy kill a little group blue and that made the blue fear PK's even more. Guilds like The Syndicate did have blue who was able to fight and they tryed to help their weaker members.

I may buy the book, I may even write a book myself someday about the effect UO had had at my life.
 

FrejaSP

Queen of The Outlaws
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No matter how you turn it around, it's a part of UO's history and for some of us, it was amazing and something we always will remember.
I do know, not all do have good memories and they will forgive the reds who ruined the fun for them and maybe even made them give up UO. I can't changes that.

I know, I did not ruin it for anyone. I did get PK'ed offen but to me, it was a part of the game and did not in anyway ruin my game. I loved the game.
I think it was the fact, that I was playing with and against other players, that made it so amazing for me. I had no chance to know, if a player would be friendly or evil. I had to deal with it and try to get the best out of it and I sure got more friends than enemies, even when I sometimes died before I got a new friend.

I'm sorry you keep carry this old hate and you not was able to enjoy the game the way I was. I'm happe for you, that you now do have the safe world, you wanted at that time. However, I will always hope to get the spirit back from my first time in UO, even when I know, it is not possible, even Siege had become a nice safe place, to nice and safe for me.

It's sad, the degree to which this mythology of the pre-Trammel days is continually perpetuated.

*shrugs*

Oh well. Clearly, continually saying what it was actually like, as I've done for years, has done no good whatsoever.

-Galen's player
 

Squeax

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
Is anyone even still in the Syndicate? Active, I mean? I've peeked in on their crafter days and have never seen more than like four or five of them, and usually two or three appear to be AFK. For all I know it's one guy on a few different accounts.

Then there's the WoW division they advertise, where they're like the #40 guild or whatever, on some meaningless server.

These guys haven't been anything but a few peoples tired attempt at self-promotion for a long time.
 

Restroom Cowboy

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Considering this is all advertising (which is against the TOS)...why is this thread still open?
 

the 4th man

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I just got "Slaughter House Five" for fathers day, can't wait to read it.
Available at Amazon, anyone want a link??

Syndicate, overrated, self-centered, and as far as a book or two goes........
above and beyond nerdism, geekism, and a laugh and a half to say these least.

I guess some nasal nosed, basement dweller needs to move outta mom & dads, thus he or maybe even a she, needs the scratch.
If you buy the book, I wouldn't brag about it.
 
A

AdamD

Guest
Considering this is all advertising (which is against the TOS)...why is this thread still open?
And yet, if you link to uoforums.com, or whisperingroseradio, your post gets deleted and you get a polite PM saying such sites are against the official UO fansite agreement (despite them being on the official UO fansite program :wall:) and therefore, aren't allowed on Stratics. :dunce:
 

Picus of Napa

Certifiable
Supporter
Stratics Veteran
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UNLEASHED
Considering this is all advertising (which is against the TOS)...why is this thread still open?
For one reason:

Xena Dragon
Webmaster


Sometimes nothing this guy posts shocks me but it still makes me shake my head. Clearly this has been approved by people much higher in the pay scale and it makes little difference to anyone anyways.
 

Taylor

Former Stratics CEO (2011-2014)
VIP
Alumni
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Pay scale? *laughs*
 

GalenKnighthawke

Grand Poobah
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Nice try, dearie.

It is not about my hate, it is about yours and others' denial of reality. Pre-Trammel UO, the UO I went into, was a veritable wasteland save for occasional pockets. Sure there were subscriptions, due to lack of competition at the time. But in terms of activity? For the most part all this stuff about communities was a myth. This is not to say that active communities did not exist; Rivendell and Tel'Ruid on LS both existed pre-Trammel. The latter moved, the former did not.

Both were active.....sometimes.

But whenever I tried to seek out places of community in those days, even ones reputed to be active, I found gank squads or I found no one. That activity and community constituted the bulk of the game before Trammel is where the mythology lies. Casual conversations with other players, that did not involve attempts to lure me off to be killed, I can count on one hand pre-Trammel.

The pre-Trammel paradise is an illusion created by the post-Trammel era. People's abilities to create paradises of the mind where they did not exist in actual fact is an amazing thing.

So, no, dear. It is not about hate. It is about acknowledging reality.

-Galen's player


No matter how you turn it around, it's a part of UO's history and for some of us, it was amazing and something we always will remember.
I do know, not all do have good memories and they will forgive the reds who ruined the fun for them and maybe even made them give up UO. I can't changes that.

I know, I did not ruin it for anyone. I did get PK'ed offen but to me, it was a part of the game and did not in anyway ruin my game. I loved the game.
I think it was the fact, that I was playing with and against other players, that made it so amazing for me. I had no chance to know, if a player would be friendly or evil. I had to deal with it and try to get the best out of it and I sure got more friends than enemies, even when I sometimes died before I got a new friend.

I'm sorry you keep carry this old hate and you not was able to enjoy the game the way I was. I'm happe for you, that you now do have the safe world, you wanted at that time. However, I will always hope to get the spirit back from my first time in UO, even when I know, it is not possible, even Siege had become a nice safe place, to nice and safe for me.
 

Aran

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I played with/around Freja for about a year before Trammel was introduced. Guess you just played the wrong places because Freja's neither lying nor exaggerating.
 

Cirno

Purple Pony Princess
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Considering peoples' experiences would be subjective, I don't think you can really say that a person's experience didn't exist.
At most, you can compare it to your own and others, and observe that the experiences differ.

It's difficult to define what I'm trying to say, and also to type it (apparently, I fell asleep on my hand).
When a social group is "under threat" from an outside entity, it's more likely to "turtle" in order to protect itself. As such, they'll make themselves less of an easy target, but subsequently become less open.
The existing activity becomes a little masked, as a defensive measure.

Although, that is not to try to say that it was all roses pre-Trammel. I just disagree that there were no roses at all.
 

Smoot

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Yeah... post is against stratics tos, but... I wonder if the author will be littering his rl neighborhood with his new trash.

L.L.B.S !

Long Live Bob the Scripter ! Cleaning up Luna of the syndicates daily trash!
 

Cirno

Purple Pony Princess
Alumni
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Stratics Legend
Yeah... post is against stratics tos
It kind of isn't.

Also, although it resembles an advert if you look at it one way, I would personally think it remiss to review something without providing any details on how to acquire it. And similarly, is any review not an advert, when you get down to the bones of it?
If I wrote a book about Ultima Online, could I make an advertisement thread?

(Serious question. I actually have an unfinished 90 thousand world manuscript on a non-fiction informational topic, unrelated to UO. But I like writing and this is an option.)
Generally, advertising isn't allowed on the Stratics Network. It's a situation where lines have to be drawn, and policies form.
However, as was the case with this book, a review would likely not be out of the question :)
 

Smoot

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
a direct link to an "add to cart" page sure seems like advertising to me...
 

Cirno

Purple Pony Princess
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think your assessment is based, in part, on your negative opinions of LLTS.
There is only so much vagueness that can be naturally introduced when directing the readers to where they can buy the product, when it only seems to be available from the one place.

Also, I would urge all of you, if you have an issue with a post or thread, to use the "Report Post" feature.
For all the objections raised in this thread in the open, there have been very few reports. Moderators do tend to respond better to reports following the proper procedure, than they do to people trolling and telling them how they should do their jobs.
 

Aran

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Yeah, I'm sure reporting Xena Dragon would turn out well for the reporting party.
 

FrejaSP

Queen of The Outlaws
Professional
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Campaign Patron
Nice try, dearie.

It is not about my hate, it is about yours and others' denial of reality. Pre-Trammel UO, the UO I went into, was a veritable wasteland save for occasional pockets. Sure there were subscriptions, due to lack of competition at the time. But in terms of activity? For the most part all this stuff about communities was a myth. This is not to say that active communities did not exist; Rivendell and Tel'Ruid on LS both existed pre-Trammel. The latter moved, the former did not.
Dear Galen
I's not "denial of reality", I and alot others did love it pre Trammel. People is different. Because it was not possible for you to enjoy the game, it do not mean noone did enjoy it.

I'm female and I was 40+ when I started UO 1997. PvP was total new for me but for me it was cool to be able to interact with PK's and thieves. I saw alot of community, both inside and outside town. I was not just a helpless victim, I took it as a challenge and made deals with the evils in the land.

No matter if you believe it or not, we was alot who loved the game and we was not all PK's, alot was blue and honorable too. I was blue the first 6 months and did only fight back when attacked.

But whenever I tried to seek out places of community in those days, even ones reputed to be active, I found gank squads or I found no one. That activity and community constituted the bulk of the game before Trammel is where the mythology lies. Casual conversations with other players, that did not involve attempts to lure me off to be killed, I can count on one hand pre-Trammel.
I found communities at the bank, there was always someone to join if I wanted to go to the wilderness or dungeons. Later when we got houses, we would know each others in the small player towns and support each others in many ways.

I always feeled, if I was lured off to get killed, it was my fail, I should know the risk. I did sometimes accept the risk.

Once a red asked me to make him an order of weapon and tools. Order was accepted at my shop. When he came to pick it up, he could not carry it all and he told me, I would get the money at his house, if I did help him carry it.

Sure the risk here was very big as I did not know the guy but I decided to do what he asked for. My Crafter Tina Tink can't fight so I could easy lose the wares and not get my payment and die too.

Now, sometimes it pay of to take a risk. I got my 2 x the gold I should have for good service and even when this guy sure was a PK, he never killed me if he meet me somewhere.

The pre-Trammel paradise is an illusion created by the post-Trammel era. People's abilities to create paradises of the mind where they did not exist in actual fact is an amazing thing.
That depend of who you are. Maybe it was not a paradise, but I wanted some spice and was not looking for a paradise, a paradise sounds very boring for me, I lowed the wildernes with all the reds and thieves.

[qoute]So, no, dear. It is not about hate. It is about acknowledging reality.

-Galen's player[/QUOTE]

No maybe not hate but you being in a place not made for you :)
 
S

Syndicate

Guest
While the concern about whether we are still alive and well as a guild that was expressed in a post yesterday is appreciated; The Syndicate is alive and well with about 1200 members. There are about 200 active participants in UO... about 350 active participants in WoW... Of the remaining members (and in response to the comment about what we are up to..) they are involved in a variety of activities. A huge number are engaged in the development of the future MMOs. We have teams working behind the scenes, both remotely and on site at various studios, on many of the future MMOs both large and small. That has been the case now for some years. The book goes into specifics about studios and projects. We have teams playing most major MMOs but we do so under a private pseudonym as we do not recruit new members within those games. And we have a large team working on strategy guides for Prima games. We remain very interested in and supportive of the UO community and we continue to help influence and shape the future direction of MMORPGs. There are some exciting things on the horizon that many of you will enjoy.
 

Ahuaeyjnkxs

stranger diamond
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I was in AoD when the syndicate became strong...

I killed over 2000 LLTS in one summer (some very often but never I res killed), we had a head collection.

AoD despised elitism and the way the game was being modulated to become an item oriented money making machine.

The more it grew, the more we killed.

Even at one point, I was so violent (and roleplaying), a seer approached me so I would become a member of the FoA, thats when it got interesting.

LLTS killed us once or twice, in a very *cough* fair fight ... umm 200 against 6 ?

They even brag about this lag fest (on their website) and how it was supposedly an epic win... well we saw a gate pop up, about 20 dragons with tamers pop out... then the whole guild

lag... two earthquakes, blade spirits.

You are dead.

The syndicate was always a symbol of cowardice and elitism in all the groups I joined... they were so much hated that we even had blue guilds paying us to ruin some of their parties.

I never really had a probem with them personally... when AoD came to an end I even went on LLTS island to apologise and face justice (roleplay attempt, part of the FoA storyline which was supposed to involve whole guilds namely LLTS, LoA, OeS etc...)

But when I returned to my seer mentor and told them they didn't even let me finish one line apart from the emote : *waving a white flag*...

Dragons had my body chopped up and fed to the animals, then they proceeded to insult my ghost.

Well he told me to forget it, that LLTS was most likely too immature for the kind of roleplay we were preparing.

They could not take a scout and see who was in our tower, then send I dunno TWICE the number of people (yea we were that good, even if a few in AoD hacked and ruined our reputation)...

But no, this was a strong message that ganking is the way to roll...

This is very interesting to me ! :pancakes:
 

Taylor

Former Stratics CEO (2011-2014)
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Okies, that's enough. However you feel about LLTS or Xena's book review, Stratics is not a medium for abuse.
 
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