What is TGC really?

So I was going through a friend's (Mr.Spearhead) posts/threads and read a thread of his where he was talking about stuff being added to the auction and whatnot and someone in the thread mentions TGC and here is a quote someone said

CURVY: " "FYI the spearhead came to those who were part of top gamer's club of which you have to earn your place to get in."
This basically means you have to be a long standing player, hitting certain benchmarks to get in, of which paying with real money is not one of them, you can be a paying player or not, and still be part of it. It is based on loyalty to the game, how long you have played, how good you're getting all those kind of things. If you were to start a new ship and spend £5000, it would still take you a little while to become part of top gamer's club.... "

so I then went and found how to get into TGC which I have read before and here is what the FAQ tells us.

ASTRAEA: " ...How do I become a TGC member?
TGC members are our top users and are selected automatically. The selection process is conducted on a regular basis. The most loyal, industrious and active gamers are thus potential candidates for invitation to the TGC at any time.

Acceptance into the TGC will be based on various criteria, such as game status, in-game purchases and friend invites.

The longer you remain active, the better your chances of being selected!

One more thing: You need to have a valid email address! If your address ends up on our server's 'blacklist' because our mails to you bounce back or you unsubscribe from the newsletter, then we cannot accept you into the TGC. In that case you'll have to reactivate your address first. Please contact Support for more on this. ..."

I play on USA(West) I am around rank 300 for top exp, and HoF and I am 220 for top honor. I received an email a few years ago saying I was close to getting into the TGC if i just played more. Ive been pretty active in the game just about non stop for 4 years now. I run a clan, my 2 co leaders both spend a little money (at least they have before) and they were both in the TGC (if they arent still) and they were maybe around the 1k ranks so it seems spending money is either a requirement or about 99.9% getting into TGC.

*Added* Forgot to mention I have never spent money on the game for anything (prem/ rebate/ uri)

 

TGC is a shadow of its former self, we haven't had any exclusive codes etc in a long, long time. The main attraction of TGC was the support team that came with it, Rod Barber was a legend. Now it's not different as far as I can tell.
Hate saying it so obviously and in a such mean way but, I would pay to not get Kara - that was exactly what TGC was for most people, anti-kara support.

I don't know anyone who has been in TGC without being at least a moderate spender, however the good news is you are not missing out on anything when you are not a member.

 

That is probably why. I got TGC 3 days after I bought my premium gold pack and rebate a couple years ago.

 

Truth hurts and I agree with you 100% on that one without a doubt.

 

I have to say that I dont understand the 'Kara' theme here... we need to realise the TGC may not be heaven ... I have had subs to the game for a long time and I dont see any Email as yet... what benefits does it infere...
Kara is supposed to be just a member of 'staff'...
Let's not start problems here... If we are going somewhere then please let me know the direction...

 

Yeah my post was a bit of a hijack. I'd just like to say the main attraction of TGC is better support but I haven't really experienced better support.

 

Iv been TGC for 2-3 years now and not seen anything from promotion or offer side. But gotta say Kara Has been really good responds very fast and gets things done for me e.g gate resets.

 

so i have also been a member of tgc and have seen no real benefit from it, i really dont even know how i got into tgc in the first place...but i really dont see any difference being tgc or being not in tgc.

 

And here was me thinking TGC was a place for trolls to swap scripts, could be wrong but I very much doubt it!