Long-lived guilds are some of the crown jewels in MMOs. One of the longest running guilds is The Syndicate which celebrates fifteen years of existence as a gaming community today. The Syndicate boats a 99% retention rate, over 1,000 members and 90%+ of its members have been with the group for several years.
Throughout its 15 years, The Syndicate has set the mark for excellence in a number of ways. The foundation of the success of the guild was created through established a strict and well managed recruiting policy. In order to join The Syndicate one must be close friends with the guild; have a compatible personality and gaming play style; and be looking for long term membership that is based heavily around building personal relationships with other members of the guild. That focus has led to the creation of a 'drama free' environment with unparalleled retention which in turn has allowed for deep friendships to form.
Read more here.
I've played UO on the same server as The Syndicate for several years. I've run into them in several other MMOs over the past decade. I've met members of The Syndicate at cons and expos over the past 3 or 4 years. I don't think I've ever has a negative experience with a member of that guild either in-game or in real life... in 15 years. Evidently, everyone's mileage varies. :)
There was a "The Syndicate" legion back on AION (fregion server) when it first launched.. They played asmos and were one of the top legions at launch, getting some of the first 50's into their legion.. They sweeped fort raids for the first 2 months.
But i always wondered if it was the same people..
