[Full Update] [4/8/17] HARDCORE IRONMAN, Forum Loyalty Program & more! - Updates - Alora

Hello everyone!

This week, I am very excited to announce that Hardcore Iron Man mode has made its way to Alora! Get a head start against the competition by hopping online right now and grinding it out to reach the top of the Highscores! The highscores have already been updated to include the Hardcore section, which will show ~~striked out names~~ for Hardcore Iron Men who have fallen, with the stats that they had at the time of death.

Additionally, the Forum Loyalty Program is now live! Check out the full details here: http://www.alora.io/loyalty

[Updates]

Miscellaneous:
- April fools updates have been removed from the game.
- Right-click option on Ironman NPC Paul will now give you an armour set more quickly.
- Zulrah snakeling can now be transformed again.
  - For some reason the metamorphosis to change its colour broke recently - this has been fixed.
- Trading post bug fix:
  - An update has been made to the trading post saving code when a server update is in progress.
- Banker added to Staff zone
Graceful fixes:
- Black/white mixed graceful set has been added as a recolor option
- Annoyed that graceful did not have placeholders? Not anymore!
  - All graceful gear will now have the capability of having placeholders in the bank.
- Graceful items are now reclaimable - any piece can be re-obtained from the Lost items shop for 100k a piece.
  - Previously, only the normal uncoloured set would have this option.
- Graceful run energy effect is now applied to all coloured sets.
Baby vanguard pet:
- This pet is exclusive to Alora! We thought it would be cool to have another Raids pet, especially the Vanguards.
  - Although this pet is extremely rare, there is a slim chance of obtaining it from the Reward chest in Raids.
  - The pet is also available in the web shop, although it is priced to keep it out of most peoples' hands!
- "Pet" option
  - You can now quite literally "pet" your pet!
- With the release of this pet, we open the possibility of more custom pets being available in the future, as we know how much everyone loves expanding their pet collection on Alora!
Private messaging fixed:
- Many users were aware of the issue where you or your messaging partner would not receive pms.
  - This was a huge hassle as players would think that staff members were ignoring them when they literally did not receive the player's message.
  - Additionally, when you send a pm, usernames would be lowercase with an underscore instead of a space, this has also been fixed.
NPC fixes:
- Zulrah fix:
  - Sometimes, Zulrah would not be the correct color (eg. Melee phase, but visually yellow)
- Demonic gorilla fix:
  - Similarly, sometimes when fighting these monsters their overhead prayer would not be the correct one.
Combat fixes:
- Saradomin sword (and the Blessed variant) had a bug that caused the special attack to be too high.
  - The secondary damage of the special attack is now limited to 16 as intended.
- Sometimes in the Wilderness, XP drops would not be 1x when fighting a player. It should always be 1x to have accurate xp drops from this point on.
- Heavy ballista hit delay/timers fixed: (Light ballista as well, not sure if any even exist in-game lol)
  - We were using the original release ballista delays, we have decreased the delay to match OSRS as it is at the moment.
  - Ballista attack speed has been decreased by 1 tick as well (7 tick delay, or 6 ticks on rapid mode) (4.2 seconds / 3.6 seconds)
Hardcore ironman has been released!
- You must make a new account to become a Hardcore ironman.
  - Essentially, all mechanics are the same as Regular Ironman mode except for the experience rate, and of course, the death mechanics:
- Death mechanics:
  - Basically, if you die once, you lose your Hardcore status and are reverted back to a normal Ironman!
    - List of known dangerous deaths:
      - Anywhere in the world that is not part of a mini-game
      - Zulrah
      - Kraken
      - Cerberus
      - Abyssal sire
      - Battle-royale IF dangerous (lost items on death)
      - Clan wars IF dangerous (lost items on death)
    - List of known SAFE deaths:
      - Certain quest areas where you do not typically lose items*:
        RFD, Lunar diplomacy
      - Most mini-games:
        Raids, Duel Arena, Safe clan wars, Pest control, etc.. are all safe
- De-ironing:
  - Similarly to downgrading from Ultimate ironman, you can downgrade to being an Ironman first before choosing to be a normal player.
- Experience rates:
  - To make sure that Hardcore ironman is suitable only to players who are looking for a real challenge, and to give a twist on the other two ironman modes, the following XP rate has been decided:
    - 8x XP rate on any skill
      - This rate does not change after reaching 99, and is constant all the way to 200m exp.
  - Possible XP boosts:
    - XP-boosting equipment (eg. Ardougne cape for thieving)
    - Training in the wilderness above level 25 (Usual 25% boost)
    - Well of Goodwill (15% boost instead of the usual 30%)
    - Skill of the day (Usual 25% boost)
    - Weekend bonus XP when active (Usual 50% boost)
    - Vote book boost:
      - NOTE: Vote books can only be opened once every 12 hours on a Hardcore Iron Man.
- Highscores:
  - The Hardcore highscores are unique from other highscores! If an HCIM dies and loses their Hardcore status, the snapshot of their current skill levels will be *permanently* saved into the Hardcore highscores!
    - To show that they have died and will no longer be climbing up the charts, their name will be crossed out.
      - As soon as you die, the server will freeze your current skills, total level, xp and combat level in time and save them to the highscores.
- Extra notes:
  - Unlike hardcore/regular ironman, if you die or de-iron it will announce to the world as long as you have 300 total level (instead of 1000 minimum)
Highscores changes:
- Combat levels have been fixed on all pages.
Forum Loyalty Program:
- We're very excited to present the Forum Loyalty Program to the community!
  - This system is intended to provide some in-game rewards for our members who are consistently active on our forums and bringing it to life.
    - It works in two ways:
      - 1. Every post you make (from this point on) will award you with 25 Loyalty points
      - 2. There are tiers of rewards that you can unlock, listed on the following page
- Some of the rewards include:
  - Barrel helmets
  - Pet cats
    - Currently only awards the "normal" type of cat.
      - A future update will be released to allow you to choose between kittens/overgrown/lazy variants!
  - Cabbage cape
  - and many more items!
- You can claim your Forum loyalty rewards by speaking to Sir Loyle T at home.
  - You will receive a message on login telling you if you earned any Loyalty points from recent posts, as well as if you have any items waiting with Sir Loyle T.
  - All Forum loyalty rewards (except pets which must be insured) go to the Lost items shop on death.
    - You cannot claim the items twice from Sir Loyle T, so if you drop/destroy a reward item, you might lose it permanently.
- All of the information can be found here: http://www.alora.io/loyalty
  - ::loyalty added in-game to reach this page
Wilderness bonus XP changes:
- Players must now stay in 25+ wilderness for at least 2 minutes to achieve bonus XP.
  - This is to prevent people from running in and out of the mage bank to fletch, as it was intended for players truly training their skills within the wilderness (eg. Chinchompa hunting or skilling in the resource arena.)