The SYN Phase
I selected SYN just to mess with Stella.
Their recruiter was Sir Brad. I sent him the usual intro message, and in
response, he asked:
“Male? Female?”
I was surprised. Clearly, only one gender was getting past
the gates.
As soon as I replied “Female,” he told me to join—instantly. The entry
requirement at the time was 1.2B might, and I was at 900M. Later, I found out
there were only two other female players in SYN, and both were sups. It was on
their request that the might rule was waived, because they wanted more female
players in the clan.
I also confirmed one more thing: they would not accept the
stalker.
Of course, I ended up telling Brad the entire backstory. He turned out to be a
good listener, and calmly said,
“Don’t worry. Doesn’t look like this guy could get into SYN anyway.”
The Best Days of TB
SYN gave me what I would call the best time I ever had in
TB—no question about it.
These people weren’t just incredible epic killers; they were fun, warm, and
active in chat. That goes for all the sups, not just a select few.
But every good thing has a shadow. And in this case, it was
the clan leader: Dragonoke.
Winhow calls him a “meanie”—and with good reason.
The issue was mostly communication. You’d say one thing, and he’d understand
something completely different. Early on, I asked a simple query that he took
as some kind of challenge to his announcement. What followed was a long,
unprovoked rant on Discord. I read the first two lines and closed it.
After that, I made sure to stay away from him completely.
The Superiors
Winhow must be in damage control IRL, because she was
constantly putting out fires. She was so gentle and understanding that by the
end of the conversation, you’d feel guilty for even being upset.
Squint Eastwood was the quiet one. He mostly stayed silent
but solid.
Dee was kind, but moody. Sometimes she was all jokes and
sunshine, and other times you’d think twice before speaking up in her presence.
Massimo had a soft heart, even though he was the one keeping
the unruly folks in check. He was firm, but kind.
Brad had a slightly R-rated sense of humor, but was the most
friendly person ever—at least with me.
Yoggy was the papa bear, but with the heart of Goldilocks.
He helped new players with silver, deposits, pickups—even when he wasn’t the
bank. That was another level of generosity.
Mercury was my second favorite after Massimo. Just very
likable and easy to talk to.
GergtheJohnson was originally part of GoD, so I was shocked
to see him join SYN and soon be made a superior. He was going to lead the SK
clan for SYN. But Gerg in the main game and Gerg in SK? Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde. Totally different personalities.
Jimstang was very active in clan chat, but only with a few
people. He wasn’t particularly friendly to me, to be honest.
Al Capone was made sup while I was there. He was in charge
of merc exchanges, but didn’t talk much.
Boiti and The Guardian—I never spoke to either of them.
DOOHICKY was a league of his own. He had fixed hours for the game, during which he’d slaughter epics and buy insane amounts of packages. Absolutely stacked.
The Kingship!
This was the first kingdom where I saw a regular clan member
being made King. Usually, that role rotates between sups or the clan leader.
But this guy—Lightbringer—wanted it, and some sups probably just wanted a break
from the thankless job.
What followed was chaos.
He was unstable and required constant validation, even for
doing the bare minimum. Worse, he thought it was funny to assign insulting
titles like “Dummy” or “Dog” to clanmates—including one of the sups. I call it
what it is: BS. It wasn’t a joke—it was a low blow.
The final straw came during CoT. Lightbringer had
reinforcements in his city and went offline. Naturally, people had to rank, so
they pulled out. His city got attacked, he lost silver, and then got
furious—blaming everyone for not staying put.
He left SYN in anger and moved to BAD in K151.
The Clanmates
I still don’t know how SYN managed to have so many good
people in one clan.
Not one of them made me feel bad or excluded. I made some amazing friends—one
being Mili, and we’re still friends today. He wasn’t just around for the good
times; he stood by me when I was having a rough patch too. Always
understanding. Never judged. Never turned cold.
Old Faces in New Places
WTH joined SYN briefly, but I doubt he even remembered me.
Nothing meaningful happened there.
Uncle Deadly from K116 joined as well. Turns out many of
these players were VGD folks from one of the 80s kingdoms. He was a genuinely
nice guy.
Agent R—we had been in K78 together. I thought we were friends, until I found out he quietly left for DeF after two days in SYN. No goodbye, nothing. That stung.
SK: The Beginning of the End
This is where it all fell apart.
SYN decided to make two SK clans:
One for players aiming for G9 (the spenders)
One for slower-paced, G8 players (the non-spenders)
In theory, that sounded fair. But in practice? No one
clarified how much money was enough.
In the first week of SK, I had already spent around $500—that’s
₨141,911.40 in Pakistani rupees. For me, that’s a massive amount. But
apparently, not enough. Soon, certain players—Gerg being one of them—started
harassing others for not spending more.
It was condescending, and I wasn’t going to put up with it.
I left Clan 1 of SYN in SK. But Clan 2 was meant for
non-spenders, so it was irrelevant to me. I ended up quitting SK entirely,
wasting my week 1 investment—and yes, that made me furious. Especially since I
earn my own money. It wasn’t just about the game—it felt disrespectful.
To make matters worse, the main clan went practically dead. I was between jobs, mostly at home, and suddenly I had no game and no work. I was going crazy with the silence.
Moving On
I had friends in BBX, and they told me BBX wasn’t doing SK.
That was all the motivation I needed—I decided to move there and focus on the
main game.
But this move didn’t sit well with SYN. All the sups
messaged me to ask why I left. I replied honestly.
Not a single one responded.
Except Massimo. The only one who acknowledged my message, and didn’t act like
I’d committed some betrayal.
Final Thoughts
K139 gave me some of the best memories in TB. It had
incredible people, top-tier leadership (mostly), and real friendships. But it
also showed me how things can spiral quickly when money, miscommunication, and
ego get involved.
I’ll always look back at my SYN time fondly.
Even if it ended how it ended, I know one thing for sure: for a little while, I had
found a place that felt like home.
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