I feel it appropriate to assign my first review to the clan that set the rest of the clan world in motion. There is often contention between the Sabre Clan and THE Clan as to who founded the first Runescape clan. Thanks to the unusual policy of Sabre members requiring all their members to put the word Sabre in their Runescape name, we have a definitive answer as to which clan came to Runescape first. Below is a list of the first active players to register with Runescape.

1 Rab
2 Lightning
3 Merlin
4 Shark
5 Ignite
6 Mutant Mount
7 Ace2you
8 Rob
9 Moly
10 Urchin
11 Ice Sabre

Ice Sabre was the first clanner to transfer over from JaGeX's now extinct game, Cyberwars, establishing the Sabres as the oldest clan. From there, well... it's hard to believe the stories. The Sabre leader was once rescued from Scorpions by Andrew Gower himself. The two were close friends, and it was King Sabre, the leader, who invented the Friendlist which is still in use today. I encourage you to read the Sabre History, located here:
http://www.thesabreclan.com/history.html

Back in Runescape Classic, before there was a wilderness, the Sabres were the dominant clan of Runescape, with a memberlist spanning into the thousands. The famous war of Al Kharid lasted many days, involving hundreds of Sabres.

Unfortunately, the Sabres fell out of the spotlight after a few years, when King Sabre left, and the Wilderness was added to Runescape. The Sabre's antiRPKing code (to defend non-PKers from being attacked outside the banks) was made redundant. Furthermore, their policy requiring every member to have an account named Sabre caused a severe decline in their numbers, as their old members left. The release of Runescape 2 in April 2004 was their one big hope. They were hoping that JaGeX would allow name changes, and so encourage people to switch their account names into Sabre names. This update did not happen, and the Sabres fell away as larger clans such as Damage Incorporated took dominance over Runescape.

It was only in these last few years that the Sabres have allowed non-Sabre accounts into their clan, but the change has come too late. They have been neglected by the mainstream clans of Runescape. Their momentous influence on the game has largely been forgotten. This is one of the great historical tragedies of gaming.

The Sabres nowadays are getting by, quite comfortably away from the spotlight. It seems like they have made their peace with the clan world, and are enjoying the quiet life, like many other clans that once rose to fame. The lessened publicity of course means that they will find it extremely difficult to become a powerhouse, but it pays off when you have a look at what the competition-free environment does to their community.

Their memberlist, as of early December 2008, is hovering around the 70 member mark, which itself is quite respectable. Their comparatively low combat average of 103 prevents them from being recignised by the main combat clans of the clan world. The clan world has a central operating system. The biggest clans are in close contact with each other and the medium strength clans hover around these central clans hoping to break into the top league. The Sabre clan is liberated from that system, and so has not received much attention, despite having a wonderful community.

The Sabres are far from dead, as some would believe. Recruitment is steady, as their forums indicate, although activity rates are a problem. The name they have established for themselves as the oldest Runescape clan, and the accomplishments they have achieved, are a major playing card for their recruitment, although this is starting to become less effective as the clan world forgets.

It is my great hope that the clan world takes a second look at the Sabres and recognize them for what is a wonderful clan community. The Sabres have much greater value than much of the clan world is to believe. Factors like members, levels, organisation and reputation... all these things can be expanded and improved, gained and lost. But the Sabres have one hell of a history, and long standing recognition, and no clan will ever be able to expand their history further than the Sabres.

RATINGS
Community - 9/10
Strength - 6/10
Activity - 5.5/10
Reputation - 9/10
Website and Forums - 8/10

Overall - 8.5/10


More Information
http://www.thesabreclan.com/
http://www.runehead.com/clans/ml.php?clan=the_sabres