Alora Newspaper 10/22/17

Hey guys, welcome back to the latest edition of the Alora Newspaper.

In this months edition we will be going over some huge updates, some new staff and a couple of new rules updates!

Date & time of updated rule: 9/25/2017 9:06 AM EST

Updated section: In-game

Time or date that the updated rule(s) will be put into effect: Immediately

Part(s) added, changed or removed: RED

Brief explanation (optional): Added two explanations of scamming that specifically apply to Alora, as they aren't rules/don't apply on OSRS

12. Refunds (Scams, Disconnects etc.)

• a. Disconnections will not be refunded; feel absolutely free to create a thread about it stating the problem thoroughly so the problem can be fixed.

• b. Donations will only be refunded if he/she has not been given his/her items or position (forums, server) after 72 hours; otherwise, a refund is not required. Items that have been claimed through our donation system that have been lost at the fault of one's own will not be refunded.

• c. Reset of the server and/or forums will be refunded if he/she has posted valid proof of their purchase in 'Donations' board; otherwise, a refund is not required.

• d. Scammed members will not be refunded because we provide effective methods to avoid being scammed, such as using a middleman (server support, moderator, administrator etc.). Please note that we do not accept photo-reports of members being scammed. One must provide video evidence or it will not be handled. Please do note that scammers will be punished severely with a permanent ban on their first offense, followed up by an IP-Ban on their second offense.

- Changing agreed upon rules, or switching weapons (Staff of the dead + spec in a dds fight) in a duel is considered scamming regardless of who wins the duel

- Impersonation of gambler accounts at ;;gamble (using similar names) will result in a permanent ban of the account, and if continued, the punishment(s) will be moved to the user's main account (staff discretion)

• e. Hacking refunds will not be handed out, given that we frequently advertise and provide extremely effective security. Two Factor Authentication (2FA) makes it virtually impossible to be hacked, granted that one has it enabled.

• f. Glitch refunds will only be refunded if the member has extremely sufficient proof and also has proof of containing the items prior to the occurrence of the glitch. Note that if Omicron does not see the proof as satisfactory, it can be declined and a refund will not be issued.

Keep up to date with our rules by clicking HERE!

The Updates that come out on 10/14/17 & 10/20/17 was huge! The following was added;

Server updates:
- Item requirement fixes:
  - Dragonhide bodies (g)
    - These items had missing requirements, such as the Black d’hide body (g) not requiring 40 defence or 70 ranged.
  - Light infinity bottoms:
    - This item now requires level 25 defence and 50 magic.
  - Slayer helmet
    - All of these helmets now require 13 defence to wear.
  - Heavy/~~Light ballista~~:
    - Although these items technically don’t have a requirement on OSRS, you need to fully finish Monkey Madness 1 & 2 to equip them, which includes receiving a defence experience reward which would bring you to 33 defence. This requirement has been added to the item to balance out pure PvP.
    - EDIT: Apparently the Light ballista does not have the same requirement, so it has been set back to level 1 Defence.
  - White armour:
    - All pieces of white metal armour now require 10 defence to wear.
  - Shayzien armour:
    - All pieces now require 20 defence to wear.
  - Arcane spirit shield:
    - Previously required 75 Defence, 75 Ranged (?). Now requires 75 Defence, 70 Prayer, 65 Magic as intended.
- Construction preparation package:
  - Plank making:
    - The sawmill operator north-east of Varrock can now can now turn your logs into planks! For a cost, of course:
      - Normal logs - 1,000 gp each
      - Oak logs - 2,500 gp each
      - Teak logs - 5,000 gp each
      - Mahogany logs - 15,000 gp each
    - Plank Make spell:
      - The lunar spellbook will now allow higher donator ranks to cast the Plank Make spell to quickly turn your inventory of logs into planks!
        The cost of making planks is 70% of what the Sawmill operator would typically charge. For example, Normal logs would be 700 gp each rather than 1,000!
        Normal logs: Super+
        
        Oak logs: Extreme+
        
        Teak logs: Legendary+
        
        Mahogany logs: Uber+
    - Tree health:
      - The following trees will now last longer:
        Mahogany: Over 4 times longer
        
        Teak: 1.5x longer
    - Mahogany trees:
      - Mahogany trees can now be cut down!
        You can find these trees in their usual spots around OSRS, as well as a few trees that have been added to the Donator Zone. (2 on the south side of the island, and 3 on the north)
    - Fixed donator zone wall clipping bug (near Slayer master)
- Clan chat icons:
  - When speaking in a clan chat, your rank icon (eg. Classic, Donator, Veteran, etc) will show next to your message, similarly to yell.
- Bonus Slayer points event:
  - Administrators will now be able to enable bonus Slayer points for weekend events!
- Miscellaneous:
  - Herb sack will now go to the lost items shop for 250K GP.
  - Ironman fix:
    - When creating new accounts, ironman ranks would be added as secondary groups, when they should be primary. This has been fixed.
    - De-ironing bugs have also been fixed.
      - Any ironman who could not properly de-iron should now be able to.
      - Any bugged HCIM (eg. Died and weren’t de-HCIM’d) are now regular ironman.
  - Stomp animation blocked within wilderness (it was causing delayed movement with special attacks which made rushing much harder to notice)
  - Skeletal wyvern hint message for Slayer fixed.
  - Double doors can now be opened on higher planes (2nd/3rd floors of buildings)
  - Fixed dice bag turning into Granite clamp placeholder occasionally when withdrawn from the bank
- Super Mystery boxes buffed:
  - Super Mystery boxes have been buffed to give less junk items (eg. Single barrows pieces) and will now give rarer items more often.
- Diamond bolt fix:
  - Regular diamond bolts (not the (e) version) were very underpowered due to incorrect ranged strength bonuses. This has been corrected.
- Bond opening bug:
  - If you were an Uber donator and opened a bond, you would be set back to Legendary. This has been fixed.
- Staff update:.
  - ::giverandom
    - This command can be used to induce a random event on a player who is not in the wilderness, not in combat, and who has not had a random event within the past 5 minutes.
- Clue scroll updates:
  - Clue scroll steps reduced to match OSRS:
    - Elite scrolls:
      - Reduced from 7-11 steps to 5-7 steps
  - Clue scroll emote performance QOL:
    - When performing certain clue scroll emotes (eg. Cheering at Druid’s circle), the area in which the emote would work was very small. This has been slightly increased for most clues.
- Farming update:
  - Compost has been added to Vanessa’s shop.
    - This is also used to build certain objects in construction.
- Birds nest update:
  - Nests are now slightly more common, and the chance to get a good nest (eg. An egg, ring, etc) has been increased as well.
- Gods egg offering update:
  - Offering gods eggs now has a much higher chance of giving Evil chicken outfit pieces (3x as likely)

Construction:
- The long-awaited Construction skill is now released!
  - There are so many details and aspects of Construction that are nearly impossible to list on this update thread, but general features include:
    - All rooms functional (main floor / upstairs)
    - All objects within rooms buildable
      - This includes special achievements objects such as hanging a KQ or KBD head in your house!
    - Public/private houses — chose to have guests visit your house and kick them out whenever you’d like.
    - House tab setting between Edgeville/house
      - Right-click your house tab to set whether you want it to take you home or to your house!
  - House pet:
    - Why shouldn’t Construction have its own pet? We don’t see any reason why not!
      - The luckiest of players will obtain the House pet while building any piece of furniture within their house!
        Note: Having a gold hammer in your inventory or bank will increase your chance of obtaining this pet by 20%!
  - Construction supplies:
    - The Estate agent has 3 shops for Construction supplies: (all available to Ironmen/Classic players)
      - 1. Basic supplies (Saw, Hammer, Soft clay, Nails, Bolts of cloth, Limestone, Granite, etc)
      - 2. Garden supplies (Bagged hedges, trees, flowers, etc)
      - 3. Exclusives (Gold leaves, Skulls, Clockworks, Paintings, etc)
    - Supplies not in the shop(s):
      - Magic stones / Marble blocks:
        Both of these items are not in the shop, but they can be obtained through the following methods:
        Many NPCs will drop them from the Rare Drop Table (RDT) (shared by most NPCs)
        The Ring of wealth (i) can increase your chances to hit the Rare Drop Table.
        
        The Magic stone is far less common than the marble blocks.
        
        Both items are possible rewards from the Crystal key chest at home
        
        Both items can also be purchased from the web shop
  - Max cape changes:
    - With the introduction of Construction, it will now be a requirement for the Max cape! Anyone who has the cape will no longer be able to equip it until they master the latest skill.
      - This also applies to the Completionist monkey.
  - Pools of energy:
    - Pools that restore all kinds of energy (special, run, prayer, stats, hitpoints) can be built by all players in your house. As you all know, donators already have a rejuvenation pool in Edgeville to use with a 3 minute cooldown.
      - With this in mind, we will allow non-donaters to build/use pools in the house but the delay will be as follows:
        Non-donator house pool: 7 mins cooldown
        
        Edgeville donator pool: 3 mins cooldown
        
        Donator house pool: 1 min 30 secs cooldown
  - Fishing trophies:
    - There is a rare chance you might find a larger than usual fish the next time you go fishing!
      - Big bass, Big swordfish and Big sharks are now lurking in the waters and can be occasionally caught.
        These larger fish can then be hung up on the wall in the Skill hall of your house.
        
        Rates:
        Big bass: 0/950
        
        Big swordfish: 0/2250
        
        Big shark: 0/4500
    - Note: You can also now hang up your monster heads on your wall in your house!
      - Eg. KQ or KBD heads
  - Demon swords:
    - Demons across the world now have a slim chance of dropping swords that can be hung up in your house:
      - Darklight, Excalibur, Silverlight
    - Demons that drop these, from greatest chance to lowest:
      - Crystal demons, Black demons, Greater demons, Lesser demons
  - House altar bonus experience:
    - Altars:
      - Oak altar - 0% bonus experience
      - Teak altar - 10%
      - Cloth altar - 12.5%
      - Mahogany altar - 15%
      - Limestone altar - 20%
      - Marble altar - 25%
      - Gilded altar - 30%
    - Incense:
      - Any of the 3 incense burners (torches/candles don’t count) boost the base experience by the following percentages when they are lit up:
        1 burner: 25%
        
        2 burners: 50%
    - Note:
      - Ironman and Classic players cannot use other people’s gilded altars, only those in their own house.
  - Pet house:
    - You can now place pets inside your menagerie, and whenever you enter your house you will find them roaming freely within the menagerie room!
      - To reclaim these pets, simply click on the pet house and select “Remove pet” to view the list of pets.
      - You can have up to 8 pets inside your Pet house depending on the type of house.
        Oak - 2
        
        Teak - 3
        
        Mahogany - 4
        
        Consecrated - 5
        
        Desecrated - 6
        
        Nature house - 8
  - Servants:
    - You can hire a servant by speaking to the Estate agent!
      - There are five servants:
        Rick (level 20)
        2,500 coins
        
        Cost per item: 50gp
        
        Trip time: 60s
        
        Maid (level 25)
        5,000 coins
        
        Cost per item: 60gp
        
        Trip time: 30s
        
        Cook (level 30)
        15,000 coins
        
        Cost per item: 100gp
        
        Trip time: 17s
        
        Butler (level 40)
        5,000 coins
        
        Cost per item: 150gp
        
        Trip time: 12s
        
        Demon butler (level 50)
        10,000 coins
        
        Cost per item: 250gp
        
        Trip time: 7s
    - Features:
      - Follows the owner around the house
      - Fetch materials from the bank for a cost: (time taken / cost to retrieve listed above)
        Planks (all types)
        
        Soft clay
        
        Limestome bricks
        
        Steel bars
        
        Bolts of cloth
        
        Gold leaves
        
        Marble blocks
        
        Magic stones
      - Un-notes items
        Any item can be un-noted (except bones), taking the same amount of time as fetching from the bank (and same cost)
      - Payment:
        The cost for the servant is taken every 8 times they perform a service.
        For example, after the Butler fetches items from your bank 8 times, the Butler will ask for payment of 5,000gp. If denied, your Butler will quit and you will have to pay the House agent for a new one.
  - Missing features:
    - Construction is such a huge skill and it was truly the most time consuming piece of content that I’ve ever worked on for Alora. I tried to fit in as many features and complete as much of the skill as I could, but we’ve taken enough time to create this skill and there are of course some pieces missing.
      - There are many things you can do inside your house. As previously mentioned, not every single thing is functional, as some things would take too much development time and not provide much content. For example, the games room works in that you can create all of the objects, but you can’t actually play the games within it. Many things do work, though, such as: Cape rack, Boss topiary, Boss display, Boxing ring, Gilded altars and more. For the sake of this post not turning into an essay, I’ll let you guys figure it all out yourselves.
      - The largest, and arguably only important piece of content that is missing at the moment is the ability to build dungeon rooms, which will be released in a future update once we’ve worked through any bugs presented with the current release.

Store updates:
- Pharaoh’s sceptre:
  - A new custom item is now available on Alora! Found exclusively in the donation store, the Pharaoh’s sceptre is a unique item which has a god-like “hovering” animation when equipped.
- Construction supplies:
  - Gold leaf
    - Package of 80 leaves for 80 tokens
  - Marble blocks
    - Package of 25 blocks for 100 tokens
  - Magic stones
    - Package of 5 blocks for 150 tokens
  - Crystal saw / Golden hammer
    - These items are sold for 100 / 120 tokens each, respectively:
      - Both items remove the requirement for a saw/hammer to be in your inventory while building in your house, as long as you have them in your bank.
      - The Crystal saw also provides an invisible +3 Construction boost (can be in your bank)
      - The Golden hammer increases your chance to receive the House pet by 25% (can be in your bank)

Website updates:
- Highscores fix:
  - Some players (newly created accounts) were not showing on Hiscores — this has been fixed.
  - Some usernames were showing on multiple pages (eg. On the Fishing high scores, some users with 200m exp would show up on both page 1 and 2)
- Search fix:
  - 3-letter usernames can now be searched through the forums.

Client updates:
- Ability to tweak volume in the client:
  - Due to request by a user who could not adjust the volume to their liking, we’ve added finer tuning with these commands:
    - ::musicvolume [0-255]
    - ::soundvolume [0-127]
    - ::areavolume [0-127]
- Screenshot command: (Thanks to @Chase for the detailed suggestion!)
  - You can now take a screenshot of the client window without the need of any third-party applications!
    - Simple type ::screenshot, ::screeny, or ::screen to take a picture of the window.
    - This will be saved into your cache folder, which is typically located in:
      - Windows:
        C:/aloracache/screenshots
      - Mac:
        /Users/*your_name*/aloracache/screenshots
    - If the file cannot be saved (unlikely, but possible) you will receive a red message in-game to notify you that it was not saved.
  - Plank make changes:
    - Rather than limiting it to donators, we’ve decided to make the spell more similar to how it is in OSRS and simply add benefits to using it as a donator. The spell makes 1 plank per cast in OSRS, and this is now the default on Alora as well. With that being said, donators will be able to do more planks per cast as follows:
      - All players: 1 plank per cast
      - Donator: 2 planks
      - Super: 3 planks
      - Extreme: 4 planks
      - Legendary: 5 planks
      - Uber: 7 planks
    - NOTE: The cost per plank does not change! If you are uber, you are still paying for 7 planks. All plank costs are 70% of that at the Sawmill operator, no matter what donator rank you are.
    - After casting the spell, you will automatically be set back to your magic spell book to cast again (similar to when alching items)
  - Pet house fix:
    - Previously, any insured pets could not be put into your pet house. You could have 5 pets in your inventory, but only be able to add one or two that weren’t insured. This has been fixed, and all pets can be put into your pet house now, insured or not.
  - Cape hanger fix:
    - The Cape hanger in the achievement gallery was not properly saving the cape you hung on it. This has been fixed, and all capes from this point on will save as intended.
  - Combat ring changes:
    - Previously, only the boxing ring could be climbed into.
    - The other two rings are now fixed:
      - Combat ring
      - Fencing ring
  - Golden hammer is no longer tradable.
    - This item was not intended to be tradable.
  - Throne room fixes:
    - Benches:
      - Previously, you could not sit on benches within the throne room. This has been fixed, but you may need to rebuild the benches if you already have them built before the update.
    - Floor decoration:
      - You can now build a few different floor decorations in your throne room.
  - House ladder fix:
    - Going upstairs would sometimes take you to a random location outside of your house. This has been fixed.
  - Sawmill clarification:
    - The sawmill charges 15k per Mahogany plank. Many people believed this to be a bug because the plank-making interface lists it as 1.5k. This is the OSRS price, but since obtaining GP is much easier on Alora, we cannot charge 1.5k. All of the planks’ prices were higher for this reason.
      - To prevent confusion, we’ve updated the interface to list the correct price. Nothing else has changed.
  - Bones on altar changes:
    - To promote the use of houses, the altar at home can no longer be used for bones on altar.
      - To obtain the bonus experience, you must use your bones on an altar located in your house or another player’s house.
  - Servant fix:
    - You can no longer hire servants without the required level.
  - Fixed head mounts within houses’ hall rooms:
    - You could not properly mount your KBD/KQ/Abyssal heads within your house. This was due to the item ID being wrong. OSRS has a stuffed version which you must pay the taxidermy in Varrock, and this is the item we were incorrectly using for the requirements.
      - Any heads you wanted to mount will now be mountable.
  - Object requirement changes:
    - Restoration pool:
    - Rejuvenation pool:
    - Revitalization pool:
    - Rune case:
      - These pools, and the rune case, required body runes to create, which are essentially unobtainable at the moment for some players, so we have changed the requirement to mind runes.
      - Additionally, there was another bug causing rune cases to not be able to be built which has also been fixed.
    - Otherworldly theme:
      - This theme in the superior garden could not be built due to the requirement of Magic secateurs being unobtainable. This requirement has been changed to normal secateurs.
    - Occult altar:
      - This altar required a Pharaoh’s sceptre which is far too expensive for the purpose the altar serves. We’ve replaced the sceptre with a requirement of 2 more Magic stones (3 in total).
  - Ironman supply shop update:
    - Rope has been added to this shop.
  - Miscellaneous:
    - Some players were getting “frozen” while trying to build new rooms. This has been fixed.
    - Small herblore QOL:
      - When using “Make-all” option on potion creation, it would say “Enter amount to cut:” rather than “Enter amount to make:”.
    - ::giverandom command for staff has been fixed.
    - Trade QOL:
      - On the second trade screen, item amounts will now be formatted.
        Eg. Instead of seeing “Coins x 100000000” you will see “Coins x 100,000,000”
  - House teleport spell in spell book fix:
    - The house teleport spell will now teleport you to your house. If you are already in your house, it will teleport you home.
  - Item requirement fixed:
    - Adamant gloves are now 13 defence.
    - Rune gloves are now 34 defence.
      - This is due to the fact that these gloves are impossible to obtain without 34 defence on OSRS.
    - Granite body / legs now require 50 defence to wear.
  - Clan chat fix:
    - Ironman symbols next to names in clan chat messages were broken for some players. This has been fixed.
  - Light ballista fixed:
    - Previously, the light ballista could not be fully crafted. This has been fixed and the weapon now functions properly.

You can find more information about our recent updates by clicking HERE!

Many thanks to Omicron for these spectacular updates!

Over the past couple of weeks there have been some coming and goings. The following changes have been made to the team. I'm sure you'll all join me in welcoming the new members to the team as well as thanking past staff members for their efforts.

Staff update as of October 17th, 2017:

Promotions:
Mewtwo has been promoted to Global Moderator.
casual has been promoted to Server Support.
Postimees has been promoted to Global Mod.
Lowkey has been promoted to Event Manager.
uTorrent has returned as Event Manager.

The reason for adding so many event managers is to split the workload amongst them so that it is easier to manage, and less likely to have a burn out.

Resignations:
Ryuu has resigned from server support.

Demotions:
Prague has been demoted from Server Moderator.

Congrats to everyone promoted and best of luck to those gone.

All staff updates can be found HERE.

This week I've decided to Interview 2 staff members from the community I hope you guys enjoy what they had to say!

The first person I interview is ClassicMax!

Greetings.

Diva: What amazing thing did you do that no one was around to see?

ClassicMax: I fit a whole chocolate orange in my mouth, was pretty cool and yet painful at the same time.

Diva: What would you rate 10 / 10?

ClassicMax: There's only a two things i'd rate 10/10, chocolate oranges, and beaches when the suns going down.

Diva: What kind of art do you enjoy most?

ClassicMax: Digital art; kind of the pastel but with glowy effects.

Diva: What do you hope never changes?

ClassicMax: Myself, even though i may have done some stupid stuff i wouldn't change myself because it's got me to where i am now.

Diva: What movie title best describes your life?

ClassicMax: The Pursuit Of Happiness.

Diva: As the only human left on Earth, what would you do?

ClassicMax: I'd start hunting for the perfect car, since everything would be free i'd go from town to town stopping in hotels/mansions and driving a different car each day, possibly naked.

Diva: If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

ClassicMax: One that would make money instantly appear, think of the possibilities.

Diva: What game have you spent the most hours playing?

ClassicMax: Lately alora, in all it has to be oldschool runescape, then warthunder, then alora.

Diva: What irrational fear do you have?

ClassicMax: Always wanted to go diving, but had the fear of the boat leaving me in the middle of the ocean.

Diva: What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

ClassicMax: Christmas! Although i've already bought all my gifts, i just can't wait to stuff my face with alot of chocolate and christmas food.

Thank you for your answers, ClassicMax ^_^

____________________________________

Next on our list is Mewtwo!

Greetings.

Diva: How do you relax after a hard day of work?

Mewtwo: It is a question of mentality to say what is hard work and what is not. I give my best in everything and there is no such thing as hard work. Whether it is funny YouTube clips, a favorite movie, or an episode of a show you love, watching something after dinner helps me improve my mood after a long and stressful work day, slowly building build strength in my body, which in turn makes me feel good mentally and reduce my stress levels, both essential for being successful at work the next day.

Diva: What is the luckiest thing that has happened to you?

Mewtwo: Luckiest, in what way? The most improbable and favorable to me? Hard to say...

Diva: Where would you spend all your time if you could?

Mewtwo: At the beach, I have one from 5 minutes of my house and I love it because it's a great combination of the beach decreasing your stress level, sunshine is a great source of vitamin D & complete recharges your body energy.

Diva: What is the strangest thing you have come across?

Mewtwo: If someone checked my browser history, they wouldn't need a ghost to be haunted.

Diva: If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what rule would you make?

Mewtwo: No driving for women (they already crashed my car 4 times in a park, not sure how that is possible).

Diva: What is something you can never seem to finish?

Mewtwo: This senten

Diva: What would be the scariest monster you could imagine?

Mewtwo: Political and banking. At least in my country, because they steal so much money.

Diva: Who is / was your most interesting friend?

Mewtwo: My mom and dad, my true best friends.

Diva: What are three of the most significant numbers in your life?

Mewtwo: Every *** number related to computer errors as it's my job fixing them.

Diva: Have you ever saved someone’s life?

Mewtwo: No, I can't call myself a hero yet.

Thanks Mewtwo for the interview! :)

Attention!

Have any interview questions you would like to ask any of the staff members?

Don't hesitate to send me a private message via forums/discord and I'll include them in next edition along with the answers from that staff member!