[Admins|Globals] Sythe eBook: How to be successful at Sythe! [Old|Free]

Hello all. I'm finally back from my deployment and can share the eBook that I put together some time ago.

Take note that many of these members may be banned, demoted, promoted, etc, but everything written was completely valid at the time.

I'd promised to provide this free of charge back in the day, so here it is! If you are set on buying it, just donate to Sythe in my name.

http://www.filedropper.com/final_14

^That should work.

If you don't like downloading files, here's the entire eBook in a spoiler!​

Spoiler: eBook

How to get reputation on Sythe
Djweasel - Getting rep is earned, not given, you do not just get considered trusted for making one trade with someone who is highly trusted/known. You have to earn it yourself and just as FireZ said, there is always more money made being legit than scamming.
Snow_Patrol - Personally, I believe obtaining reputation is accomplished by two ways:

-Vouches
-Familiarizing yourself with other Sythe members & the community

The first point, Vouches, is pretty self explanatory, conduct successful trades around Sythe and politely ask the other party to drop a quick vouch for you once the trade is complete.

New to Sythe? Your first couple vouches are always the hardest, I suggest dealing with trusted people when you first start out to avoid getting scammed and getting a general feel of how trades work. Buying or Selling GP? Look for a reputable buyer/seller with a High donor rank, Moderator status, or 200+ Vouches and you're almost guaranteed a safe trade. Buy your RSGP for a little higher, or sell your RSGP for a little lower, to someone who's established trust in the community, to avoid getting scammed by a member who has nothing to lose.

The second point, familiarizing yourself with other Sythe members & the community, is more of a long-term commitment. Sure friends can be made overnight, but people get a feel of how genuine you are after getting to know you better over long periods of time. Wanna chat/webcam with other Sythe members in real time? head on over to Striked.Org/#Sythe and pop in and say hi. Feeling like a goof but don't wanna look like an idiot? Get 50+ Post Count and join us in the Spam Forum.

In all honesty, there are some people with 200+ Vouches that I would not trust going first to in large amounts. However, on the other spectrum, there are people that I have never traded with, that I wouldn't mind going first to in large amounts. How you determine trust is all up to you, but I feel as if I speak for a number of Sythe members when I explain how I perceive trust and reputation on these boards.
FlyingToast - Start out small. Many people will jump right in, trying to sell billions, or even buy billions. This is impressive and all but honestly to everyone else this looks incredibly fishy and the thoughts of "This guy looks like he's going to scam someone" soon occur.

Honestly the way I started, and what seems like the best to me is offer free skilling. Even if you're using free bots, state this but say you're just looking to help some others out gain some skills. It doesn't take much effort on your end, and you start to build up trust, and a "clientele". If you expand to paid services, or sell gold / offer MMing, those who had you skilling on their account back when you first joined Sythe will be more inclined to use you over the other "similar vouched" member because you personally helped them out in the past.

Basically start out small, and expand. Try to make friends that will vouch for you, and you'll do the same for you. It always looks nice on a thread where the first page is filled with vouches from buddies.
Awesome Stranger - There are quite a few things you can do to gain reputation, and or gain trust on Sythe. First, you have to be active to get known, obviously. So posting, not spamming and getting yourself known around sythe is a good start.


How to not get scammed on the internet
FlyingToast - Don't go on the Internet to trade, it's very simple. There's always some prick out to get you no matter what. This is why there are phishers, scammers, hackings, keyloggings etc.


Where the "money" is at on Sythe
N4n0 - That's a fairly difficult answer, as there are so many money making methods. I personally prefer the RSGP market, however. I've made tens of thousands of dollars dealing with RSGP, and I will continue to earn off of runescape and sythe until the market hits rock bottom.
Hahanerd - The most money all depends on trust. Acquiring trust ranks, such as OMM, will help your profits increase. Specializing in certain areas also helps. From experience, buying and selling gold is the most profitable thing for most users. Sometimes, skill training is also good if you have a lot of bots, money, and a nice ass computer.


Where RuneScape's future will be
Matthew - Where RuneScape's future will be
I think RuneScape is going to continue to evolve. Look at where it has come already from the original RuneScape to what we have now. As there is more pressure from the gaming community for it to improve, I think it will. After all, it has to keep up with World of Warcraft and other new MMO's that are gaining popularity.
Oosh - Six Feet Under. Botting will either kill the game or Jagex will let it be as a chaotic place run by botters where it's too hard for new players to get started.


Your opinion of Sythe and its community
Matthew - Sythe is a really interesting place. Over the years, Sythe has evolved quite a bit. The core values and beliefs of the site, however, have remained largely the same. Sythe has an incredible mix of people as members from all different parts of the world, races, religions, etc. which makes it a very diverse community. Sometimes this diversity leads to really interesting and insightful conversations while at other times it leads to disagreement and conflict. Either way I think it's interesting to see how everyone interacts and the discussions that form.
Giverny - Sythe has one of the most varied and interesting communities I've ever seen. Having been part of online communities in the past, it became apparent that most users tended to copy eachother and share exactly the same opinions. Sythe, however, has a range of different personalities, races, nationalities, relious followers and what not, and this makes for a really well balanced site with some great debates and discussions.
Wulf - I LOVE Sythe and it's community. It's a very kind and sweet community. I always know where to go. If I want a few laughs, I go to the spam forum, If I need some advice, I go to Personal Support, If I want to help users, I check the Guide Sections, etc. For the users reading this eBook, I suggest you find out how amazing this community is. Also, I suggest you join the unnoficial Sythe IRC:
http://www.striked.org/
#Sythe - Thanks for reading!


Why you joined Sythe and why you stayed
Matthew - I originally joined Sythe.org shortly after I started playing RuneScape. I saw people in the game buying and selling gold, but knew nothing about what they were doing. So, I searched aroud and found Sythe.org. Mind you, this was 7 or so years ago now. Once I joined, I saw what a neat community Sythe.org was and also saw the potential for some money making opportunities. Ultimately I stayed because I got to know people, enjoyed their company, and started working my way up the staff ladder.
Giverny - Initially, I joined Sythe with the intention of selling PINs, which sold for 4.5m each at the time (that was a lot back then!). However, I soon drifted from the market and the first thing I got to love was the community. My very first 'friends' on Sythe were n4n0, Covey, Darthatron, Clashfan, shawn_ and Finn. I've never really been one for the market so it's really just the community that encouraged me to stay.
Djweasel - I started small in the xbox section, trying to buy a certain account. Then started buying/selling accounts and microsoft points/live. I started getting bigger and formed a shop with then Feren Silver & Cambo Iz Yummy. We became pretty known and both have been banned. I feel like the last survivor of the Xbox forums, I have been there since 08 and don't plan leaving. My reputation has shot up.

Corey - Back in 2009, I was botting Aviansies using Powerbot, and was making a fair amount of GP. I was surfing all kinds of Runescape blackmarkets, looking for a place to sell my GP. I found sythe, and saw a kid buying GP for a good price, so I signed up with the intentions of making a sale and leaving. Well, the trade never did work out, however I grew a liking to the community/market opportunities and decided to stay.

Oosh - I had known about Sythe since at least early 2007, but was involved with other forums and didn't register until late 2008 where I had wholeheartedly decided that I was forever done with RuneScape. I came to sell my RuneScape account, then stumbled across the Off-Topic section, Spam Forum and the IRC. The rest is history.
Kinae - Practising graphics, looking for a nice community to stay with, too.
Govind - I joined Sythe because I was interested in the programming section (which was the main attraction back when it opened in 2005). I stayed because, well, I've made many friends here, all of whom were worth staying for, most notably Steph, Matthew, Finn, Giverny, Clashfan, Karl and Richard himself.


Advice for new Sythe users
Matthew - Be careful. Sythe is an amazing place, but it can also be a dangerous one. Scammers will go to great lengths to steal from you and, unfortunately, there isn't always much we can do about it. Read the guides on trading, read the stickies throughout the forum about various topics, and make sure you stay on your toes. If you keep an eye on things and you're careful, Sythe.org will be a great place for you to make friends and also make some money!
N4n0 - As I said earlier. Just don't give in to temptation. Don't allow yourself to scam, it's not worth it. Stay legit, and trade carefully. Always use a Middleman for risky trades, Always double check E-Mail addresses in MSN, and ALWAYS screenshot/record your trades. You may need it later on down the line. If you ever have any questions, you can always PM myself, any Sythe Moderator, or anyone who's been around long enough to know how things work.
Corey - The greatest piece of advice I can give to any new Sythe user is to keep out of trouble. While scamming may be a way to earn a quick buck, owning a legitimate service/business is a long term investment and will pay off over time. If you do make a mistake along the way, do yourself a favor and be completely straight forward with the staff, we are pretty understanding and believe in second chances when people deserve one.



Your largest trade
N4n0 - I've personally handled trades ranging anywhere from 1 mil, up to over 8 billion GP, be it for a middleman, a GP purchase, or a GP sale.
Snow_Patrol - My single largest trade that I went first to was $900 Bank Transfer for 2.25 Billion RSGP to Viou. No OMM needed as Viou's reputation speaks volumes, after I confirmed it was him (via PM, and an IP Check) I wasn't nervous at all. After I routed the money to his bank, I received the GP shortly after as expected.

The single largest trade that someone went first to me, was 1,103M RSGP for $610.90 via Western Union. After I picked up the money from WU, I promptly handed over the RSGP.

Keep in mind that the two trades mentioned above are single trades. In a long term basis, I've had users buy/sell over $1000 worth of RSGP to me, just not all at once.
Hahanerd - I, Hahanerd of Sythe.org, Official Middleman'd a trade consisting of a few thousand dollars and 7 billion RSGP. The traders were both happy with my service and I got 200M for my services.


Who you trust the most on Sythe and why
Djweasel - Honestly N4N0, and Corey are my 2 closest friends on Sythe. N4N0 has trusted me with his white phat. Corey and I have been doing stuff together since MW2 lobbies.

N4n0 - I would have to say Giverny. I've trusted her with Billions worth of RSGP, which easily equates to thousands of dollars. I've handed her 6b+ without even a second thought, and she has yet to fail me. I can easily say that Giverny is my closest and dearest friend on sythe, and ironically enough... I'm part of the reason she joined Sythe in the first place.
Corey -T his is a hard question for me, as I have a lot of friends on Sythe, all of whom I have a great deal of trust in. However, if I had to pick one, I'd have to say that person would be no other than Govind. I can't really say why I trust him, as I don't know myself. Govind just has one of those personalities that everyone seems to like, and if you've ever been in a trade with him, you'd know what I'm talking about. He always makes sure you're happy with his work until the very end, which for me was about a month. He wouldn't even accept a payment until he was finished and was positive that he had done his job properly.
Awesome Stranger - KeroKeroCola, hands down. We've been business partners since before free trade was announced. I've trusted him with multiple thousands of dollars so far since we've been partners. Simply Pures & Skillers, come check us out if you get a chance.


Your opinion on using MM/OMM's
Matthew - MiddleMen are incredibly important to successful trades, but are not perfect. You can buy an account and have a perfect trade but it could be recovered a week later, for example. Don't expect a trade with a MiddleMan to be flawless and don't expect a MiddleMan to protect you 100% from scamming. MiddleMen are incredibly important people and help a lot of users stay safe, but you always have to be careful and keep an eye on things.
Snow_Patrol - Generally, I don't use MM/OMM's, it's not because I don't want to, but the time constraints and inefficiency of transferring money through 2 hands before getting to me, just isn't appealing.

I usually stick with OMM's, but when I use a MM, I usually require them to be more trusted then myself, i.e. More Vouches/Mod+, or someone that I deem trustworthy.

However, I highly recommend using an MM/OMM rather than going first. The reason why an MM/OMM isn't needed in most of my transactions is because my trade reputation matches, if not exceeds, most of the MM/OMM's that offer their services, so it's generally not hard to get the other party to go first to me. (Not to mention I run my own successful Middlemanning Service)
Superman - First and foremost, you must distinguish the difference between MMs and OMMs. MM stands for middleman and OMM stands for official middleman. Normally, MMs are somewhat trusted users looking to obtain the prestigious OMM rank. MMs normally offer free services, while OMMs require payment for their middle-manning. Before trading, you must think about your trade: is this trade a big trade for me; do I trust the person I'm trading with; do I need someone more experienced/trusted here helping me. MMs and OMMs are always here to HELP YOU. So, if you decide that you need help while trading, you must now figure out if you trust a free middleman to do it. Free middlemen can have any number of vouches/trust assets. However, Official Middlemen require an application to be filled out. This application requires a $550+ trade. If you feel like a free middleman is worthy of MMing your trade - THINK AGAIN! Be sure to look through the free middleman's service thread along with his vouches/recent activity on sythe.org. The same applies to OMMs - ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU LOOK THROUGH THE HISTORY OF A TRADER BEFORE TRADING.
FlyingToast - When you're starting out, always use one. I'd rather spare a few million then get scammed. You ALWAYS need to check to see if you're talking to an impostor though. If you're a bit skeptical of the person, stick with an OMM that way you don't need to risk being scammed.

If you're trusted though and everyone goes first to you there really is no need to use an OMM or MM, but it's "common courtesy" to always offer to use one if they would be willing to cover the fees.


Personal experience with scammers
Snow_Patrol - Surprisingly enough, it took 2.75 years for me to finally get scammed on Sythe. I've been scammed before in the past, but it wasn't Sythe related at all (Scammed by an ingame friend for about $125 worth, and scammed by an ex-clan member of mine for a phony runescape membership)

The story and aftermath of how I got scammed is actually quite interesting, so I'll go through it in detail.

I was looking to renew memberships on 4 of my accounts, and posted in the Upgrade Section of the Runescape Market advertising my needs.

Hours went by, but I was finally contacted by a newcomer with 30 Postcount, who said they could sell me some memberships. They wanted to pay through PayByCash, and they said they'd allow me to enter everything in myself.

He walked me through the steps since I was unfamiliar with this process, and upon entering all of his personal information and the bank account information, both accounts were creditted with memberships. I gave him his 18m (9m per membership), exchanged vouches, and we went out seperate ways.

5 days later, when I tried logging into one of the accounts, instead of the login screen, a message saying that I had negative credit popped up. I went over to the subscriptions page and found out that he had actually charged back the payments, leaving me in negative membership credit (-160 JCoins)

Bummed, I went out and spent $40 on two $20 Ultimate Game Cards, to buy 200 JCoins on each account. After uploading both UGC's, I waited. 24 hours had elapsed with no email, and both accounts still frozen. Finally after 72 hours, I decided to email PayByCash Support, and they informed me that not only did I have to pay the $19.95 fee for 200 JCoins per account, but a transaction fee of a whopping $25.00 PER ACCOUNT due to a bogus payment. So I had to go buy 3 more $20 cards for $60...Totalling my loss to $109.00 if you value RSGP at $0.50/M.

So long story short, getting scammed 2 memberships resulted in $109.00 leaving my pocket.

I always take precaution when buying/selling RSGP. If a user flat out refuses to go first to me, I welcome the use of an OMM, or highly trusted MM. Payments that I received for RSGP sales were all finalized once sent, meaning there was no way for the user to claim their money back. (PlayerAuctions, Western Union, MoneyPak, & Mail)

Having traded over 40 Billion RSGP worth, I wasn't scammed a single penny when buying/selling RSGP.
Wulf - When I came to Sythe, I had every reason to be legit. But, unfortunately for me, I was scammed a couple times. I honestly didn't know what to do, so I scammed $8 (I'm pardoned for this). It was a pathetic move on my part, and I honestly regret it to this day. Since then, I refunded the users before getting active on Sythe. I wonder if I still could be a moderator if I never scammed $8 back then. To the users reading this guide, don't scam, be legit, it will payoff on the long-run.
Awesome Stranger - I'm sure almost every sythe member that has been around a while has been scammed one point in time. Well, when I first joined sythe I was gullable to a few scammers and got scammed for accounts I had bought. Also have had quiet a few PayPal chargebacks brought on me.

What's your biggest Sythe-related regret?
N4n0 - As most, if not all of the active users know... I made a mistake back in 2007. Probably the biggest mistake I could have made in my sythe career, and one that I would never make again. I scammed. I got away with it too. The guilt was always there though. I eventually gave in to the guilt and confessed to my crime. I put everything I had done and earned on the line in order to do so. I risked my global moderator position, my Head Middleman Position, My $1000+ worth of donations to the site, as well as the trust that I had earned from many. To this day, I feel a lot better about confessing, but I stil look back at what I had done, and regret it. My biggest tip to those of you out there is don't give in to temptation. Stay true to yourself and to the site. Don't scam. It's not worth it, and there's so much more to be made by being legit.
Superman - My biggest regret on sythe was not trading properly in my early times. It's very important to stay knowledgeable of the latest rules and trading practices. You need to seek knowledge from the big traders - people who have successful gold/upgrade shops. Also, if you're going to trade in a specific way, for example WU for RSGP, you need to figure out how those trades work so that you don't get scammed. Remember that knowledge is your ally!



If you could change one thing about how Sythe works, what would it be?
Kinae - The registration and verification methods; More security and such.


What's your favorite section and why?
Djweasel - Xbox section, it's my home, I've lived there since Nov 2008. I consider myself the main person to moderate the area and take care of it.

Giverny - I actually really love the community section. I find it really important as an administrator to constantly connect with users and discover what they really want from Sythe, so I make it a priority to read the Suggestions & Feedback forums very thoroughly.
Wulf - Honestly, I used to only frequent the RuneScape sections when I first came here (besides the market). Then, after I came back, I used to frequent the guide sections. I loved that section, and I love helping users even more. I eventually became a CA in that section, and then rose to become a HCA. I was a bit disappointed when it was removed, I loved that section. But, the next day, I was promoted to an Off-Topic moderator. Since then, I fell in love with Off-Topic, I noticed how helpful/fun it was. Then, I was promoted to a global, and noticed how awesome this site is! But, the guide section has been returned recently, so I'm pretty happy with that. So, my final answer is, it's a tie between Off-Topic and The Guide Sections.
Govind - The programming section, because that's where I can discuss my favorite hobby with Sythers.


Has Sythe impacted you in the real world? If so, how?
Hahanerd - Yes it has. I feel as if I've made more income and more things with the money I've earned off of Sythe and the #1 MMORPG, RuneScape. It's also impacted me in a negative way because, like a real job, you have less time to hang out with friends and less time to do your hobbies, but over the years, I've been able to manage it all in.
Govind - Well, some of the friends I've made have given me advice that's improved my real life self a great deal. That, and I've made plenty of money on Sythe.org that I've used to buy real life possessions such as my laptop and iPod, etc.



Do you feel like you are addicted to Sythe?
Giverny - Absolutely not. I'm definitely dedicated, but I know when enough is enough. I do my share around the site, but I never prioritize Sythe over my real life. I consider my social life very healthy, and well... being addicted to Sythe would definitely harm that!
Corey - No, I do not feel like I am addicted to Sythe, I feel like I am addicted to the people the people that use it. I enjoy talking to my friends on Sythe, and they are the one of the only reasons I am still here.


Where do you believe Sythe will be in 5 years? 10?
Matthew - That depends largely on what Sythe, the owner of the site, is up to. Ultimately Sythe.org is just like any other website and has an owner. Well, owners of websites move on with life and have other things to worry about. I imagine if Sythe.org continues to run smoothly and we have a good set of staff, it will be around for quite a long time. I'm sure it will continue to evolve, as I get bored and like to change things ;-), but will most likely still exist in some form.
Superman - Sythe.org will always go where RuneScape goes. If RuneScape is thriving in 5/10 years (highly unlikely), so will sythe.org. This is because sythe is, primarily, a black-market site for RuneScape goods. Once RuneScape falls, sythe.org will have to change its focus - either to another game's black-market, or to cheating in general.
Oosh - It will still be around in 5 years, the scope of the market will broaden and the focus will probably shift on to something else. In 10 years, if it is around it will probably owned and operated by someone else other than Sythe.


With technology advancing at such a rate, where do you think humanity will be in 100 years?
Kinae - Obviously, more advanced then nowadays, can't really speculate how everything will work by then obviously


What is something that really "grinds your gears" about the world?
Djweasel - The war in Iraq and our economy, I've got friends who have been killed in the war in Iraq and ones who have been wounded....we did our job lets get out.

The economy is complete trash right now, I'm 25 and can barely get a job at a gas station. Along with that making ends meet is a struggle

Oosh - Lack of respect. Lack of humanitarianism. Lack of charity, grace and love for fellow man. Greed. You kinda get the drift, these are all intertwined in some way.

Govind - People who come to Western countries and don't assimilate with Western culture. I grew up in a house with rules, beliefs and values which contradict those of the West and made my childhood very limited and unenjoyable.

Awesome Stranger -
Religion, I won't get way into it. All the wars, greed, and suffering it's caused the people of the world in the past and even to this day. Just my two cents.



What's Sythe going to do when/if RuneScape eventually dies?
Matthew - We'll have to move on, of course. We already have forums for World of Warcraft and other games, so we'll have to expand out presence in those areas. We can't expect RuneScape to be around forever, but if we look at the amount of money Jagex makes off of it, I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon. If it does though, we'll adapt and do what we need to do to survive.
Giverny - Sythe's market is based around not only Runescape, but also other games like WoW, LoL, Maplestory etc. and also non-virtual items. These markets are expanding all the time and make Sythe.org virtually future-proof.
Awesome Stranger -
Most likely fall back onto another rising MMO for RWT. But I still don't see that putting a massive hit on sythe as a whole. A lot of people stay just for the community.



Anything else you'd like to say?
Kinae - Yes, wuv you blade<3.
Oosh - Russian.​

Contributors:
Author and compilations – Blade bro4
Djweasel - Snow_Patrol - Giverny - Matthew - N4n0 - Superman123321 as Superman - Hahanerd - CSkiffingt1 as Corey - Kinaesthic as Kinae - Wulfspade1 as Wulf - FlyingToast - JohnK as Oosh - Govind - Awesome_Stranger
​

 

:/...

 

I atleast read it man. When were the interviews conducted?

 

The download link wont work for me.

edit: Haha I didn't notice you put it in the spoiler.

 

I remember this. Lol, some of my answers are kind of cringeworthy.

 

Everyone's different in a position of power.

 

Wow, I really enjoyed reading that! Brings me back a bit actually but 10/10 would read again!

 

A pretty useful guide for someone that might be new to Sythe.

 

Things have changed o.o

 

Indeed they have TBT...

 

I quite enjoyed reading this! A lot of time and effort went into it.

 

Bump! Free to all!

 

"Try to make friends that will vouch for you, and you'll do the same for you. "

Shoutout to me a few years ago, I've been retarded the whole time.

I remember when you made it, and I really love this guide, miss a lot of the names we've got there. Thanks for making this free for us.

 

Bump, still important and relevant information for new Sythe'ers looking to one day become a non-banned oldfag. It's quite rare.

 

Nice little read here.

 

Well that was interesting. Would be very useful for a newcomer. Thanks for the time/effort you put into this

 

No problem! Totally forgot about it, would like for it to get some airtime!

 

Was an interesting read. I can relate to many points made

 

Amazing guide, thanks for the link Blade! Brought a tear to my eye.

 

Actually a great guide