Veteran cape (5 year)

The veteran cape is one of the Capes of Distinction commemorating players who have held RuneScape accounts for five or more years. Players may obtain this cape from Hans, who may be found wandering the grounds of Lumbridge Castle, for a cost of 50,000 coins. Players who do not quite meet the requirements of having an account five years or older will be informed how many days they have left until they may claim the cape.

History and development
The idea for the cape was first revealed in a guaranteed content poll in which free-players and members alike could vote on designs for the cape. The design of the cape was divided into five categories: hood design, collar shape, collar pattern, back symbol, and cape pattern. One month after the closing of the poll, the veteran cape was once again mentioned in the May edition of Behind the Scenes, a monthly news release which outlines a tentative schedule for updates which Jagex plans to release that month. One day after the release of the Behind the Scenes post, the cape was introduced into the game, bearing the winning design as voted for by players.

Emote
The cape possesses a unique emote which may be performed by selecting the skillcape option under the emotes interface. When activated, the ground beneath the player will break and a "V" shaped structure will emerge from the ground, carrying the cheering player upwards. The emote requires a 3x3 area not containing any obstacles to be performed, so players standing in remote areas which do not have a clearing large enough to perform the emote will be informed that they must first move to a larger area before being able to perform the emote.

Release controversy
When the veteran cape was released, it, along with all other Capes of Distinction, were revealed to be members' only. Free-to-play players were led to believe that they would have access to the new content due to the fact that they were allowed to participate in the poll determining the cape's ultimate design. In addition, the May 2011 Behind-the-Scenes article stated, "That winning veteran cape design will soon be available to all players who have had a RuneScape account for at least five years." This matter was eventually addressed on 3rd May 2011 in the Game Update FAQ, where Jagex pointed out that whilst all accounts that were 5 years old could have the cape, a player also required membership. Many free-to-play players who have had accounts for five or more years considered this an outrage and complained in the forums.

Trivia

 * In the emote of the Veteran Cape, the V stands for both "veteran" and the roman numeral form of the number "5".
 * The Veteran Cape was first confirmed during RuneFest by Paul Gower.
 * If you die with the Veteran Cape equipped or in your inventory, 50,000 coins appear under your gravestone in place of the Veteran Cape, but the hood will still be dropped normally.
 * Eurogamer caught attention of the Veteran Cape controversy and asked the Vice President of Runescape (Daniel Clough) to respond. It is the first time when the Vice President of Runescape franchise gave a public response to the media.
 * When the Veteran Cape was first released, players would wield their weapons and shields during the emote. Due to graphical updates, this no longer happens and players' weapons and shields vanish during the emote.
 * There was a glitch, when you performed the emote, and talk to an NPC the V and yourself, would rotate facing the NPC. This glitch can still occur.