Veteran cape (5 year)

The veteran cape (5 year) is one of the Capes of Distinction commemorating players who have held RuneScape accounts for five or more years. It is currently available to accounts that were created before. 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.

The veteran cape (with its hood) can be stored on a Cape rack in a Player-owned house.

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, was 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 3 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

 * The results of the poll for the look of the cape were A2, B3, C4, D1, and E3. (see picture)
 * 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 within your gravestone in place of the Veteran Cape, but the hood will still be dropped normally. Note: A refund of only 30,000 coins instead of the expected 50,000 has been observed a few times. This might be a bug.
 * Eurogamer caught attention of the Veteran Cape controversy and asked the Vice President of RuneScape Daniel Clough to respond. It is the first time that the Vice President of RuneScape franchise has given 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 or click a Bank booth the V and yourself, would rotate facing the NPC or Bank booth. This glitch has been fixed in popular areas like the Grand Exchange, but not in low traffic places like Ardougne.
 * There was another glitch, that if you dig using a spade while doing the emote, the ' V ' would pop up without you. This has been fixed.
 * Sometimes when using the emote via the emote tab, it will say "You need a clear area to peform this emote." but if you use the cape's right click option, you can still peform the emote.
 * The symbol on the cape bears a close resemblance to the Noble Team insignia from Halo Reach.