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Greetings,

Coming back to Hyboria with low expectations has proven to be a step in the right direction after all. It's a casual game for us while waiting for SWTOR and we play it for some quick PvP practice and fun.

Yesterday we had our first exclusive (5 out of 6 Exodus) minigame in the lowest bracket against higher gear and PvP-leveled characters. It went well indeed and we pulled away at the end.

I'm certain we'll repeat this victory many times over and I truly feel our that our current members are the strongest PvP:ers so far.




If you're interested to play with us, contact anyone online in the Age of Conan channel on Vent.

Regards,

Lexion






In efforts to add a higher quality & beautify our home on the internet today, Thursday, April 23, 2009 the old PHPBB 3 forums are now defunct and outdated.


In its place, we now hold license to our own vBulletin forums far superior to the last and they are located here:


Change your bookmarks!

You may have also noticed that the bridge to the portal is no longer active and/or your password is not working on the new forums, but please be patient. Lexion is working on it and in due time everything will be fixed. If you encounter any problems please be swift to post them in the Offtopics - Everything Goes - Welcome to the new forums section.

On the new forums there is a link to a mini-tutorial I have written within Lexion's announcement topic to address the login problem and help you to get online. It is located here:


Brief improvements of new vs. old:
  1. Ajax which updates the page without a total reload. 
  2. Quick Reply option^ under every thread + more
  3. Generally faster forums
  4. Much better admin/mod options which will save time
  5. Much improved profile pages with galleries and blogs
  6. Most mods are already installed, like post-preview.
  7. WYSISYG editor instead of bbcode (which also works of course if you want it), please turn on in your Profile.
  8. Better and more diverse thread listing/viewing options
Lexion says:
This theme is mashed together out of 3 different ones to look unique but not too far from our old one. Know that there are still a few things to iron out, like images and icons being incoherent and missing. Do not worry though, it's being worked on.

Remember guys, OBSERVE and REPORT in the aforementioned thread in offtopics if there is anything that is wrong with the website. Enjoy yourselves and heres to the Guild taking a step forward!

Leugim

Home of the Suave

This is the first of a series of "editorials," along with my regular blog banter. Hopefully in time they will all get their own section, so if anyone has any ideas for future editorials, please e-mail suggestions to thenameisleu@gmail.com. Please if you must try to keep them Gaming oriented.

"WTF?! ! JU$T GAT G@NK3D!" 
"u guyz sux." 
"I @|\/| l33t |-|@xx0r!!" 

We all have heard it, and have come to expect it from on-line multiplayer games. Whether it's the folks with no sense of humor who simply cannot seem to take an ounce of blame for themselves, or those who do not even seem to understand their own native tongues, the world of internet gaming is famous for its less civilized inhabitants. However, as with any large group of people, one can find decent human beings even in this cut-throat world of pixels and QWERTY slang. It can be difficult for people of this sort to survive in on-line gaming; they are harassed, attacked, and generally badgered (sadly, not with a real badger; that would be soft and fuzzy!) if they ever try to present a piece of logic in a sound and calm manner. It seems that if you aren't screaming profanity at the rest of the community, or spouting some stream-of-consciousness l33t babble, not only will you not be heard, but you may be intentionally silenced. Thankfully, there are havens for these civilized people. In some games, they find message boards. In others, they find chat rooms. In life, they find the Exodus Syndicate.

I am sure there are other communities across the idyllic and boundless landscape of the Internet that hold people of honor and respect, but to find a high concentration of good individuals, one need not look further than the ever-growing ranks of the Syndicate. Not only that, if you're looking for a laugh, boy wonder, the Syndicate can provide. Need some entertainment? Go talk to Sraalok, or perhaps Genx. I'm sure those two will be sure to put a hurting on your cheeks. No pun intended. See what I did there?

As well, it is not an elitist environment; an aura you can feel just having a brisk chat with members. We do not scan for levels and such moreso personalities and the competitive drive. 

We are Competitive believe that. It is the fuel that drives the engine to this juggernaut we call home -- and our members can attest that this is one of the main reasons they continue to game with us. We are a community, not a Power Hungry hierarchy. We keep only as many rules as we need, and none that we don't. Every member of The Exodus Syndicate is welcome to step up and offer changes for improvement, to make our community the best example for players the internet has.

To find your way to the Syndicate, all you need to have is the will to succeed, the potential to be great, and the attitude to match. With such interesting personalities like Lexion, and SneakyJes leading the ranks,there is not a lack of skill. I would even argue that the Syndicate home-trains its members to surpass any skill level that they come in contact with. Tricks are taught and passed on, strategies tested and tempered. To put it simply, the Syndicate makes itself known not through flashy macros, but through the potency of its members. I doubt you could find a person in our gaming history whom does not recognize and respect the name of The Exodus Syndicate. 

With Star Wars: The Old Republic being months possibly a year away we are already an integral part of our faction, contributing both through solid action and swift force. In a world of constant war, there is no breaking the spirit of the Exodus Syndicate. We are the Syndicate, and I'll be damned if we don't live up to the name. It's a long ride to the front lines; I'm glad for the regiment I get to make the trek with.

My brothers in arms.

Leugim


Good Morning! Woke up to what seems like a combo rainstorm/hailstorm this morning. Not ideal in my opinion but apparently enough to warrant cancellation of the first class of the week. 

Without further ado, there has been a change to the guild's recruitment policy towards SW:TOR applicants. If you haven't had the chance to screen Lexion's announcement here, I have taken the opportunity to divulge key highlights.

  • Two week trials now run Saturday to Saturday regardless of application date. A period of two weeks (14 day minimum). This has been standard before but there has never been a fixed time period for the applicant. My understanding of this rule for example is that if you were to apply for the ExGS on say a wednesday, your application would then run a course of 17 days.
  • Every applicant will need to schedule two interviews; one initial and one pre-approval (See the  "Scheduled for Approval"-sticky in the App room)
  • Meet 'n Greets are now every Saturday at 8pm EST, & will be aimed toward new applicants


This new protocol has been put in place to provide greater emphasis on getting to know the applicant and for the applicant to get to know us, allowing both to understand the value of one another. 

This also aims to prove the applicant is driven, and actively seeks to immerse themselves in the guild. Less chance, more substance.

Leugim

Welcome to this week's snapshot of the major topics that people are discussing in the Star Wars: The Old Republic Forums. To see other weekly snapshots in the future, you can click on the 'TOR Snapshots' tag in the Category list to access them.

Warfare & Tactics

Features and Ideas Discussion


Fansites you should check out

See you next week!

Back in December we all had imminent heart attacks brought on by EA's announcement that SW:TOR would not be subcription based, instead favoring a micro-transaction model. Since that time there has been quite the substantial uproar from the community and we have since gotten word from EA's CEO John Riccitiello that; "No statements have been made about the Star Wars business model." This is good news for guys like myself whom as you know am an avid gamer and mmofanatic. We highly prefer subcription based models.

Anyways, rummaging through the net I ran upon an article published by BBC News on micro-transactions over the weekend, focusing on everything from the large amount of money the system can generate to the concern that greed may overshadow gameplay if these payments for in-game items are given too much priority.

According to the article, a survey at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco found that 66% of those polled "were excited about this growing trend" in free-to-play games. Dean Takahashi, the organizer of Gamesbeat, said micro-transactions are popular in the far east, Korea and China, and now the big test is whether North American gamers will fully embrace the system. Takahashi predicts micro-payments could become a multi-billion dollar business. I however think & believe that RMT will be the end of the western mmo market.

On the other hand, some people in the industry are concerned micro-payments could affect gameplay. "You need to remember that at the end of the day, we are there to provide fun gaming experiences for people. Not something where they are constantly badgered to pay up for something," said Neil Young, the founder of NGmoco that makes games exclusively for Apple's app store.

So, to you fellow ExGS guildies I ask you what your thoughts on micro-transactions are? Are they the future of payment in MMOs, a nuisance that can affect gameplay, or something else entirely? You can read the full article for more information, including revenue numbers for various companies.


Leugim


It's that time of the week again! We sure got quite an awesome update this week. This week's update on Star Wars: The Old Republic is not a blog or even a Fan Friday, but rather this update gives us a new planet which will be in the game.

Ord Mantell is a Republic-aligned Mid Rim planet with a civil war fought between the Republic and Separatists seeping all throughout it's mountainous and volcanic landscapes. The planet was once a strategic stronghold of the Republic, but as the years passed on and corrupt military personnel made certain deals, the planet became a crime-ridden haven for smugglers, bounty hunters, and even pirates!



To read and see more of Ord Mantell, click here.

We also received the next few pages of the webcomic which depicts the events leading to the beginning of Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Threat of Peace. You can read the latest pages here. Other than that, that's it for this week's update!

By: Aralis