In-Game Events and Gatherings

Hi, everyone,

can someone shed some light on the event that brought the Guardian-Vexor into the game back in the day? Like what is was and when it happened?

I've been researching it for a bit and found conflicting information. Out of curiosity I tried to track down the origins of pretty much all Special Edition Ships and none of them proved as tricky as the Guardian-Vexor. As a last resort I petitioned a Game Master to clear things up; he pointed me to the Guardian-Vexor Evelopedia article that says its BPCs were a reward for the winners of a tournament. I believe the article to be wrong.

Here's the other info and speculation I've found:

• 5 10-run BPCs were given out [1]
• Two weeks later 5 1-run BPCs were given out [2]
• 10-run BPCs were a reward for a hauling event [3]
• Event took 6 weeks; had players haul items to Stacmon [4]
• Event took place mid-2004 [5]

Apparently this was a role-play event or even a story arc with multiple distinct events that revolved around Gallente Frontier Tours Limited (GFTL), a Stacmon-based tourism corp. From what I gather players had always been able to deliver Trade Goods to them. You know, the usual: Frozen Food, Holoreels, Spirits and Tobacco. The stuff you need if you're the galaxy's self-proclaimed "premier holiday provider".

In May 2004 (YC 106 and 23342 AD, respectively) they wanted to up their game and offer high-volume contracts to five capsuleer corporations [6]. Those who had previously flown for GFTL were eligible to bid for a contract. A meeting was scheduled for two weeks later. Instead just a day later GFTL announced that it had chosen its five corps [7].

Jump forward two months from May to July YC 106 and GFTL offered the same deal again, this time via a press release [8]. In addition to five delivery contracts they also offered one waste removal contract.

This one looks like it could've rewarded players with Guardian-Vexor BPCs. Contrary to the first round in May this one had a rather detailed post on the forums, something I didn't find for the first round. It also specifically mentions Quafe and Oxygen and that the corp Star Control was awarded one of the contracts. In [3] Asharee Intrefer mentions the same thing.

Anyway, can someone fill in the blanks?

Did these large-scale hauling gigs happen more often back in the day? Which event had Guardian-Vexor BPCs as a reward? Did they even come from the stories around Gallente Frontier Tours Limited?

Thanks very much in advance!

Con

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[1] Eve thread "Auction - Guardian Vexor" page 1, post by Angry Dan
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=667178&page=1

[2] Eve thread "[Auction] Guardian vexor", first post by PreTender
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=217777

[3] Eve thread "Auction - Guardian Vexor" page 1, post by Asharee Intrefer
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=667178&page=1

[4] Eve thread "Auction - Guardian Vexor" page 2, post by Angry Dan
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=667178&page=2

[5] E-Uni thread "Guardian-Vexor Destroyed", post by Mocam
>> http://forum.eveuniversity.org/viewtopic.php?p=543773#p543773

[6] Eve thread "Gallente Frontier Tours Ltd Expands further!", post by Ricardo Toulard
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=81543

[7] Eve thread "JUST IN: GFTL Contracts Awarded!", post by Ricardo Toulard
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=81587

[8] Eve thread "PRESS RELEASE: Gallente Frontier Tours Ltd." post by Devalon Haratel
>> http://oldforums.eveonline.com/?a=topic&threadID=97274