vo screendumpFrequently-Asked Questions
About TGFT

  • What is The Guild of Free Traders (TGFT) all about?
  • Free trade in the Vendetta-Online (VO) universe with a group of friendly, like-minded people.
  • Is TGFT a fun guild?
  • You betcha!
  • What would membership in TGFT do for me?
  • We offer friendship, mentoring of developing players, and excellent trade and mining tools.
  • What national affiliations are accepted into TGFT?
  • We accept members from all three VO nations.
  • What kind of people are TGFT members?
  • We have members—including council members—of both genders who range in age from senior citizens to teenagers and everywhere in between.
  • Are there any other criteria for membership?
  • You must be a subscriber to VO.
  • Where is TGFT’s home base?
  • We are headquartered in Dau at the TPG capitol (K-10), but operate in every corner of the VO universe, grey space included. Each member makes his/her own tactical decisions about developing personal nation/faction standings and dealing with the risks posed by pirates. We discuss such matters within the guild and act cooperatively in defense of our members and free trade.
  • What would TGFT expect of me as a member?
  • We expect all members to follow the guild charter and be good citizens of our nut house!
  • What kind of people run the guild?
  • Our leadership is among the most—if not the most—experienced players and fighters in VO.
  • Does TGFT have treaties with other guilds?
  • We have treaties and non-aggression pacts with various other guilds. We do not disclose the specifics of these agreements publicly.
  • What about the rumors I've heard about a super-secret TGFT plug-in?
  • We develop and use a variety of approaches for acquiring trade and mining knowledge.
  • Whose side are you on in the Serco-Itani war?
  • We are officially neutral in that war. We freely transit between Serco and Itani space with no fear of either nation taking offense based upon guild affiliation. However, individual TGFT members of Serco and Itani nationality are responsible for their own nation standings (FP) within the other nation. Our members are not allowed to join the military of either nation, nor to engage in nationalist combat activities like Border Patrol, Border Skirmish, and Capture the Cargo. However, if you have a Serco or Itani alt for the character you wish to join TGFT under, they are indeed permitted to join either national military and/or nationalist guilds.
  • Is TGFT hostile towards any specific player or guild?
  • We are an anti-pirate guild. Pirates cripple the primary thing we stand for: free trade. As a guild, we regularly engage in anti-pirate activities, often with other like-minded guilds or individual players. We maintain a KOS list of characters and guilds that consistently act against free trade, and our members are free to shoot at these characters at any time, regardless of national affiliation. However, members are not required to engage in combat if they don't want to.
  • What combat can I engage in as a TGFT member?
  • We allow and encourage combat against the hive and in defense of free trade. We allow and encourage consensual PvP, such as duels and declared furballs. We occasionally hold training events for those of our members who are interested in PvP combat.
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  • What combat can I not engage in as a TGFT member?
  • We do not allow pirating, griefing, trolling, or combat participation in the Serco-Itani conflict.
  • What license (XP) levels or badges do I need to qualify for TGFT membership?
  • None. Membership is based upon relationship, not game performance or accomplishments. We do want to see that an applicant shows some commitment to the game, so we take a wait-and-see stance towards noobs until we're pretty sure they are going to be around for awhile. Our basic criterion is that you show us you're a friendly, trustworthy, emotionally-mature person without any malice towards the guild.
  • Are there any FP requirements for membership?
  • None: the standard nation and faction standings given you when you created your character are just fine. However, we do think it's a good idea for our members to achieve Pillar of Society (POS) standing within at least UIT, Serco, and Itan. Several of our members have achieved POS gold bars with all 13 factions! We do assist our blue and red members with their efforts to get off their opposing nation's KOS lists when requested.
  • Are all TGFT members treated the same?
  • We have two levels of membership, probationary and full. New members are accepted on probation. Probationary members do not pay dues nor have access to our trade and mining knowledge. In all other respects, we treat all members equally.
  • Do I have to declare my alts?
  • TGFT takes no position on what members do with their alts nor what other guilds those alts belong to, nor do we do require members to disclose their alts. However, if you are an experienced player and are applying for TGFT membership as an alt, we advise you to disclose the identity of your developed characters privately to a TGFT council member. Failure to do this, if discovered, is sufficient to forfeit the application.
  • How do I apply for TGFT membership?
  • Go to the membership application page and fill in the form. It is sent to the council for processing.
  • I am already a member of another guild. Can I join TGFT too?
  • VO allows each character to be a member of only one guild at a time and TGFT does not raid the membership of other guilds. In this situation, your options are to resign voluntarily from the guild you are presently in, or develop an alt to apply to TGFT.
  • Can I join right now?
  • No, but you can apply right now. We are deliberate in our selection of characters to invite as new members. We like to get to know folks and be reasonably satisfied that we are dealing with a character who is committed to peaceful trading and mining as their main role playing (RP) within the game. We do not invite brand-new players, because it is possible for one's RP preferences to change rapidly in the early stages of playing VO.
  • What is the membership process?
  • The normal recruiting process consists of an application, a getting-to-know you period, an interview, then an invitation to join the guild. Once invited, there is a probationary period, and finally full membership.
    1. Once your application is submitted, one or more guild members usually begin interacting with you in-game. If you’re a newbie to VO, you’ll get to learn a lot about the game this way and what are the fastest ways to level up, what the best missions are, etc. during that process.
    2. After a period of time, a guild council member will schedule an interview with you in-game. One or more additional council members and/or full guild members may also participate.
    3. The transcript of the interview is then reviewed by our Guild Commander or one of his Lieutenants. The council may be consulted for their feedback, as well. If the review—and occasional council consensus—are positive, you will be invited into TGFT by our Commander or one of his Lieutenants and receive the [TGFT] tag for your character name.
    4. Acceptance of that invitation starts a probationary period of indeterminate length. During that time you will be observed and interacted with by both council members and other non-probationary guild members who will mentor you even further in the nuances of the game, observing you along the way.
    5. After X days as a probie, a council vote is taken to determine whether you graduate to full membership. If the vote is yes, you then become a full member of TGFT and become privy to the guild’s secrets (and we have some doozies!)
  • Is there any competition between applicants or probies for membership?
  • No. Each applicant is accepted based upon his/her own individual merits, regardless of other players.
  • VO screenshotI heard some players bad-mouthing TGFT in-game, saying that the guild is snobbish and exclusionary. What’s the deal with that?
  • Since we are among the largest and richest of the anti-pirate guilds, pirates don't like us very much and will distort the truth to serve their own ends. Some of them have tried to infiltrate TGFT and were discovered during the screening process. Some other players proved to be too immature to be members and they later found a home amongst the rats or other guilds. None of them were particularly happy about being rejected and they bad-mouth us accordingly.
  • Are there any membership dues?
  • Yes, but only after you become a full member. Monthly dues are 250K credits or 3M credits annually. While this may seem steep, you can easily make 3M+ in a single day with the knowledge you will gain from full membership.
  • What do the dues pay for?
  • At some future date, there are supposed to be capital ships, stations, maybe even sectors or systems that will be available for purchase by guilds and/or individuals within VO. We are planning ahead for that day by amassing the funds to make those purchases at the earliest possible moment.