About
The Celtic Syndicate began its life in late 2002 as a guild formed in the Pegasus galaxy, in the game Earth & Beyond. It was, at this point, a small group of rag-tag players who knew each other only via in-game interactions. As the game progressed, this group grew larger and larger until, at the height of the game’s popularity in 2003, it formed one of the preeminent guilds in the Pegasus galaxy.
As TCS was suffering its growing pains in 2002-2003, a group of real-life friends unrelated to it in any way at the time, formed a close-knit linkshell (guild) named All Your Base on the Odin server of Final Fantasy XI. This core group later became the founders of the TCS forums as they exist today, and the many iterations of The Celtic Syndicate that you will find across game servers of every genre.
Some time in 2003, with FFXI floundering in American markets prior to the release of popular expansion packs, and renowned developer Westwood‘s EnB title growing in size and scale, a few AYB members broke rank to join the growing Sci-Fi fan contingent forming up to enjoy what could only be described at the time as a truly epic MMO. In time, these friends met up with a small but growing group of like-minded players operating under the banner of The Celtic Syndicate.
The name of the guild leader, and, subsequently, the originator of the name, along with the names of a vast majority of the original officers/members, was lost to the ages after EA announced that Earth & Beyond would be closed down in 2004, shortly after their acquisition of Westwood – a sad day for gamers everywhere. No official guild forum existed, and the involved players, most of whom still knew each other only in-game, had no way of keeping in touch with each other after leaving the game for greener, and more stable, pastures.
By the time of the release of developer Blizzard‘s gold-standard MMO, World of Warcraft, shortly after the official “sunset” of EnB, a small ASP forum had been set up by a former AYB and TCS member, with the purpose of reforming the now-defunct All Your Base guild, keeping with the idea of the close-knit community, and adding even more real-life friends to the roster. A new guild was subsequently formed on WoW‘s Blackhand server, and it was decided that it would take up the banner of The Celtic Syndicate, in honor of a once-great game.
The Celtic Syndicate in World of Warcraft grew and shrank, moved servers, split in two over differences in playstyle, and suffered political nightmares that come with forcing a mish-mash of people together after a stressful day of work. The forum community, though, remained resilient despite these in-game situations, and continued to add members over the years. In time, the guild itself took a secondary role to the online community which had formed it, and eventually dissipated altogether as developer Blizzard began to change the focus of their flagship product, causing a mass exodus of quality players and communities.
Since the dissolution of TCS in WoW, the guild has been reformed in many games: Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, GuildWars, Vanguard, Pirates of the Burning Seas, and, most recently, in an indulgence of nostalgia, Final Fantasy XI. In each instance, the guild took a back seat to the online community itself, leading to many innovations and restructuring innitiatives, eventually culminating in the site you see today. Indeed, in recent ventures, TCS as an in-game guild has formed up under pre-existing banners such as that of Arete in Vanguard and PotBS and Virinis in the current FFXI stint. As such, The Celtic Syndicate has become more of an online community than a guild in its own right… and that it might be preferred that way is a subject of much debate.
