G-Man wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:51 pmThis is actually how The Syndicate’s family tree of sites came to be. Every step of the way, community has been at the center of the journey to this point.mansnicks wrote: ↑Mon Jul 05, 2021 4:34 pmWait so you're saying it's just 2 people randomly deciding to make a new FM site?JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:57 pmThe site was founded by Tangrowth and Spacedaisy in late 2012, with the first game played in 2013. The earliest eras of the site saw it as a sort of melting pot between some origin communities like lostpedia, the piano, revolution mafia, and prog archives. That's how it mostly remained until 2015/2016 when there was an influx of newcomers from rateyourmusic, narutoforums, and later heroclixrealms among others. Now the site continues in that melting pot tradition, just with a much broader array from origins. We're proud of that.
Once upon a time, there was a wiki site called Lostpedia. It had a forum section. This is where a bunch of weirdos obsessed with an early 21st century ABC TV show would spend hours posting with each other about said TV show. Here did they react to the latest episodes, reflect upon the deeper elements of the show, and theorize some truly bizarre stuff in an effort to outthink and outweird the show’s creators. It was a jovial era, replete with much camaraderie.
The Lostpedia forums had an off-topic section. One day, someone decided to bring forum-based mafia to the off-topic section. It was fun- trust! Some of the Lostpedia forum weirdos took part and enjoyed the experience enough to play another game. And another. And another. It didn’t take long for mafia games to have more complicated setups and themes based on pop culture and entertainment. The people on these forums were, after all, a bunch of creative weirdos who appreciated the artful side of mafia. For many years, flavor and mechanics were held in equal esteem, and there was peace in the land.
As games grew more intricate, thus spoke up from corners of the mafia sub-forum those who longed for better thread tools through which to run their games and provide a better play experience to the masses. Also in that day, such was the popularity of Lostpedia mafia that dozens of ideas for new games were proposed. So great was the wait for the next hosting poll that restlessness took hold in the land. For you see, back in those days, we didn’t have fancy things like running two games at once.
So great had the demand for more games and better play experience grow that one or more of these Lostpedia weirdos created a new forum site called The Piano. This new sanctuary for forum-based mafia was founded and received not as a competitor, but rather a supplement to the already burgeoning mafia community of Lost-loving weirdos. Quickly did The Piano grow, and players wandered between Lostpedia and The Piano in relative peace and harmony. Some intrepid voyagers set sail and found new pockets of other forum-based communities into which they did sow the seeds of forum-based mafia. Others found forum-based mafia taking place in small pockets of other forums’ off-topic sections.
In time, The Piano seemed to supplant Lostpedia in the hearts and minds of mafia lovers. These were largely the same people who built Lostpedia’s mafia sub-forum to prominence, so they all largely knew each other. In this age did Lost take a backseat to the extended and deeper relationships that had been forged through mafia. Such was the second era of this deep-rooted community.
In time, strife occurred, leading one member of The Piano to set off into uncharted waters and establish her own forum-based mafia site. Once again, members of The Piano joined this new venture as a supplement to their mafia addiction. Thusly, Revolution Mafia was born.
Around this time, famine struck the land. As some members aged and life circumstances changed, their availability to play mafia online waned. In time, The Piano struggled to fill games of the size that once flourished. The circumstances of Revolution Mafia during these days are unknown to this narrator, as he was among those who drifted away during this time.
Somewhere in these dark ages, a beacon of light shone upon the land. Tangrowth and Spacedaisy, both of whom had connections going back to The Piano and beyond, desired to see the spirit of mafia prevail over the darkness, and thus founded The Syndicate. In their wanderings, they joined other online communities and shared mafia there (citation needed).
Lo, through the years, mafia throughout this wayward tree- nay, vine is more appropriate an analogy- each step of the way emphasized sharing and community was a driving force. Over time, some found their way back to this rag-tag pack of weirdos, while others fell away in the natural ebb and flow of life and priorities. Each step of the way, members of the community supported and encouraged each other. An intrepid few wandered asunder, finding other communities and built bridges with the natives therein.
This brings us to the present. We are still a big pack of weirdos at heart, but we’re a big pack of weirdos who have traveled alongside each other through fortune and famine alike. On goes our journey, sending signals and search parties across the internet, looking for other weirdos to welcome into our pack.
Still a better love story than twilight
