1, Just wondering if anyone knows what they are up to now or if they even still exist in current WoW timeline ?
Their most recent lore was in Battle for Azeroth in the Arathi Highlands where they periodically invaded Alliance/Horde farms and were killed by either faction.
2, Do players RP them? I remember back in the day there was a stigma or controversy with RPing as one of them
People absolutely roleplay them, but it comes with the caveat that they are transparently villains and turncoats. If you roleplay as one openly you’ll need to understand that in-character reactions to your Syndicate character will be negative except for maybe with other villian-esque or contrarian characters.
Syndicate characters would more than likely feel a continued scorn towards the Human Kingdoms and the Alliance given that their Kingdom was taken from them by the Alliance of Lordaeron, and the Kingdoms of Man dismantled their throne and their peerage and never replaced it (there’s a lot to talk about here including stuff related to Deathwing).
Not to mention Ravenholdt is always going after the Syndicate. The odds are generally stacked against Syndicate members.
3, Last question being if any of you do RP them how does one go about doing that, wouldn’t that be rather limiting in RP ?
We’ve had a litany of closet Syndicate members in our guild, former or otherwise that had various purposes and archetypes. There’s a few archetypes I’ve had the pleasure to meet:
The Infiltrator:
A loyal member of the Syndicate that seeks to gain information or eliminate targets within major organizations that stand in the way of the Alterac Syndicate. They live among a reputable guild or organization with their identity unknown, but their intent nefarious. Usually they’re playing the character to gather intel, sabotage groups (while communicating with them OOC) and what-not.
This archetype takes a slew of communication with other players, and some of your own story weaved in as well.
The Refugee:
A Syndicate turncoat who has fled from an age of crime and struggle and seeks out a new horizon for themselves. But, disassociation from a criminal organization is always difficult. Some change their names, and entire identities to integrate into regular society without being hunted by their former allies. But, they aim to better themselves.
This is probably the easiest to play, given it’s a redemption-based archetype.
The Criminal Organization Diplomat:
The Syndicate are scattered, and can always use more allies. These characters engage in outreach to the various criminal organizations of Azeroth in order to further gains for all involved. Usually, Syndicate are seen as a benefit since they give people safe access to key areas in the Northlands like Strahnbrad and areas in Arathi; and gives roleplay criminal organizations access too, and a reason to move around to places aside from Stormwind and major cities.
These are your bread and butter criminal RP types.
The Syndicate Guilds:
These are generally pretty scarce since they would function as the equivalent of a regional crime guild, and I’m not sure there are any out there presently.
For some Endmatter: Generally you’ll get a lot of in-character flak if you openly affiliate with the Syndicate, but conflict makes for some fun roleplay! Even if you chose to make your character from the region of Alterac (known as Alteraci) you still might catch a lot of in-character flak since Alterac’s kingdom was the only one who betrayed humanity for the orcs. That tends to leave some lasting scars.
But, good luck on your venture! Hope this helped.