The Pirate Brethren

Summary:

TPB has always been known as a Star Wars Battlefront clan who broke off from VG (the Virtuoso Guild) in the later stages of Star Wars Battlefront 1. The clan has won numerous high profile matches in Battlefront 2, as well as earning a share of 1st place in the Sonic Army SWBF 2 Class Specific Ladder along with DSF. TPB also won the Warzone "Turn Up The Heat" Tournament after abandoning the game for a full year without losing a single map.

TPB is also known for its..."colorful personalities". Desperado, Diva, Resnor, Quarantined, Mindfreak, etc were all well known members of the clan. They were known to engage in constant "Flame Wars" on both the LucasArts forums and the Sonic Army site, which led to bitter rivalries with clans such as VG, KO, IR, and numerous "noob clans". At the time, one could see how it was "unnecessary drama", but in retrospect, it injected a lot of life into SWBF 2, which extended its life and opened the doors for other clans later on down the line. People always seemed to enjoy playing with TPB members, regardless of forum shenanigans, and after a while became some of the most well known and friendly clans in the community, evident by the constant stream of recruits and unwavering loyalty shown by almost everyone who ever joined and stuck around through all these years.

TPB currently is a 360/PS3 clan active in just about any multiplayer game available. As of 7-4-12, the clan is mostly playing Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on the 360. A couple of members play Socom: Confrontation and MW3 on PS3 and some have even strayed to the PC, playing MMOs like WoW, SWTOR, Diablo, and Guild Wars.

History:

TPB was created by Desperado (then known as Cornholio and Lost Jedi), who had just left his original clan, The Virtuoso Guild after 8 months of membership. It had been his first ever online video game clan and he loved the closeness and competition associated with it. His reasons for leaving centered mainly around constant disagreements with VG Nathan, VG Baldninja, and VG Jordan about how the clan should be run. The clan no longer felt like fun and was becoming too "military-like" for his taste. The clan had picked up a few newer, fun loving members around that time, Roman and Resnor from DSH, and a free agent named PLeia8. A natural leader himself, his ideas conflicted with Nathan and Jordan's, and it didnt help that one of the original members, ImATarget, a good friend of his and Sagan's, had come back after a long hiatus to attack him out of nowhere. The constant attacks and drama forced the departure.

Desperado knew exactly what he was going to do once he left VG. On July 3rd, 2005, he started up a website and spoke to his closest friends in VG, letting them know he was leaving before putting in his resignation to VG. These friends included his first ever online friend Sagan, the DSH guys Resnor and Roman, and PLeia. They took the news well, and without flinching, said, "We're coming with you."

All they needed was a new clan name, but that came pretty easily. Part of the "fun loving" part of the newer members was that they liked to talk like pirates on the LucasArts forums. The Pirate Brethren was an easy choice and that day, Lost Jedi became Desperado, Sagan became Jack Stiles, Resnor became Marauder, Roman became Jean Lafitte, and Pleia8 became Rogue Diva. (Eventually some of those names changed or were shortened when the clan switched to the 360). TPB's first recruit, BaronSamedi, was also added as a member to the clan that day, putting the TPB roster at 6.

The SWBF community did not take the news well. VG had become known as the "nicest clan" in the game, and when word spread to the LucasArts forums that Lost Jedi had defected and taken people with him, things got ugly. TPB was instantly painted as a clan of jerks and not a "legitimate clan" like RABiD, CS, BS, TF, CvC, and VG. It didnt help that they were being smeared by VG and that Desperado, Marauder, and Diva were all kind of forum flamers. It also didnt help that TPB were friends with some TSE members, as well as "Anonymous Hater" (who, ironically ended up being a VG member anyway).

TPB also orchestrated one of the most notorious incidents in SWBF history. After weeks of forum attacks and trash talking, Desperado managed to get a hold of VG's recruit tryout server. After passing that info along to Sagan, Roman, and Resnor, TPB "smurfed" the names of the VG recruits and joined the tryout server with identical names and began teamkilling. Since the names were identical, the VG admins had no idea which names were real recruits and started booting people. Eventually, they were forced to shut down the server, change the password, and reschedule the tryouts, but not before a post appeared on the LA forums titled, "VG, YOU HAVE JUST BEEN BOARDED!!!!!!!!" which solidified TPB's identities as the pirates of SWBF.

That stunt didnt exactly help the clan's reputation, but a lot of the more lighthearted players in the game took notice and had fun with what they did. As the clan played more often and joined the 4v4 ladder on Sonic Army, people started to realize that TPB was legitimate and that all of them were actually pretty cool to play with. This was important because as SWBF 2 was set to release, TPB needed to be ready to start recruiting and competing with everyone starting from scratch.

The most beloved of all TPB members from SWBF 2 was clearly a young lass by the gamer tag of Catman. He was eccentric, but unmatched in the community when it came to the Dark Trooper. Gamers all over the world cursed his name as he repeatedly mowed them down with his lightning gun of justice, bringing peace to galaxies far, far away. He originally started out in IR, but moved to TPB after Desperado promised to show him a picture of himself shirtless, with whipped cream covering his pecks, and cherries over his nipples. That, combined with his dislike for the constant flame wars and drama his old guild always created, drove him to switch allegiances. He is now primed to make a triumphant comeback during the release of SWBF 3, alongside the rest of the TPB crew as they strike fear in the hearts of noobs everywhere! Who knows, perhaps you will be lucky enough to hear 'The Catman' call out one of his classic catchphrases? "You just experienced, The Catman Factor!" (Kills player for the fifth time in a match) "What?  I'm just marking my territory!"

There has also been much talk about the revival of Catman's Super Friends, which consisted of various gamers who swore to protect the integrity of gaming by humiliating noobs and douches alike. Desperado pleaded with Catman to join his league of super gamers, a request which he inevitably relented to. Now, Desperado is the 'Robin' to Catman's 'Batman'. Super Friends UNITE!

To be continued............

Current Members: 
 * Desperado ( 360 = TPB Desperado / PSN = TPB-Desperado )
 * Diva ( 360 = TPB TrinityX )
 * Resnor ( 360 = TPB Resnor / PSN = resnor )
 * Roman ( 360 = TPB Roman )
 * TheFury ( 360 = TPB The Fury )
 * Jackal ( 360 = TPB Jackal )
 * Quarantined ( 360 = TPB Taihaku / PSN = Endrence )
 * Black Adam ( 360 = TPB Black Adam )
 * V9 ( 360 = TPB Violent9 )
 * Sagan ( 360 = Paddayappa )
 * Mindfreak ( 360 = Exro X )
 * Eric ( 360 = RoF Affliction )
 * Catman ( 360 = Catman1289 )
 * Boba Fatt ( 360 = Quetzalcoatl )

Former or Inactive Members:
 * Jedi Neo ( 360 = TPB Jedi Neo )
 * Willyfett ( PSN = ChronicSpooner )
 * Parasite ( PSN = Parasite_ )
 * Greven
 * Jordan ( 360 = Big Meachem )
 * Kastrien ( 360 = Kastrien XBOX & TPB Kastrien )
 * Raven
 * Suzaku ( PSN = xSuzakux )
 * Hatchet ( 360 = TPB Hatchet )
 * Razorblade ( 360 = TPB Razorblade / PSN = razorblade009 )
 * Modani