Gnomecopter Tours



Gnomecopter Tours was a special system which was released in the Gnomecopters update on 31 March 2008 and could be accessed by both members and non-members. The main point of the Gnomecopters was to show Free to Players some of the popular Member features such as Castlewars, Pest Control, Hunting, and the Burthorpe Games Room. It could take riders from the cow field in Lumbridge to various member only places, including:
 * Lletya
 * Castle Wars Area
 * Trollweiss Hunter area
 * Burthorpe Games Room
 * Burgh de Rott
 * Pest Control Area

At the date of release, this place was filled with people. A few weeks after the release, the popularity died down, due to loss of interest. On 25 March, 2009 the Gnomecopters were removed from the game and replaced by Beefy Bill and Farquie the Cleaner, as Jagex no longer wished to advertise Members Content on the Free Worlds.

The area




The area is located east of Draynor Manor and north of Lumbridge windmill. There is a sign like the ones you see on the ride just by Lumbridge Windmill. You enter the area through a cow pasture and then go to the back where Gnomecopters are spread out. Players must first speak to Hieronymus Avlafrim, a gnome sitting at the east side, to get the permission of using the Gnomecopters. Then, they must speak to another gnome, Sasquine Huburns, who sits in the middle of the area, to get a ticket to take a ride.

A Gnome Landing pad cleaner, Farquie the Cleaner, roams the area.





Players can trade Hieronymus Avlafrim items like a general store. He stocks the usual general store as well as other things like redberries, jugs of water and spinach rolls. Many players use this shop for redberries because they are cheaper than Wydin's food store in Port Sarim and there is an infinite supply unlike redberry bushes and the food shops. This is also the only general store in free play areas to sell jugs with water already in them (free players often use this method to speed up soft clay making, as they do not need to fill the jugs).

To the west, there used be be some deposit bins, where you could deposit items into the bank, provided you have room. Together with the nearby cow farm, it was a good cowhide hunting area.

To the centre, you may see the landing area on the west and riding area on the east.

The ride






Players must be 2' 6" tall to ride the Gnomecopters, but this is not a problem, since all players are adult humans. To take a ride, players must first speak to Sasquine Huburns in the center of the row of Gnomecopters to get a ticket. In order to take a ride, all capes, helmets (except Bomber cap and Cap and goggles), weapons, and shields must be unequipped.

During the ride, players can view and chat with with other players riding a Gnomecopter in that area. None of the areas that may be visited is an actual members area. Although characters that appear to be members appear in the various areas, they are not actual members, or even players. They are computer NPCs which have been programmed to complete certain actions and say certain phrases. Thus, visitors are merely viewing a simulation of a member's area, and not an actual P2P world. Viewing players are restricted as to the places they may go within each area, and cannot pickpocket, talk or attack the locals, or otherwise interact with them in any way. Viewers are also restricted from unlocking any music for the places they visit, although they may listen to the background music while in each area. All interfaces are disabled, except for the Friends and Ignore lists, Clan chat, and the Options menu. Players can activate run mode to make the gnomecopter fly faster, but it will not deplete their energy.

The players' Inventory interface is not removed, but it only displays the Gnomecopter controls along with various information about the current area:


 * At the top
 * The first button is for choosing manual or automatic riding
 * The second button is for returning to the starting point (Lumbridge)


 * In the centre
 * Information about the current area


 * At the bottom
 * Arrows that switch pages of introduction

Certain places in the area you can only go to when your gnomecopter is set to manual riding. Signposts are located in each area which viewers may click to see extended information about an area or feature.

Occasionally, the Wise Old Man can be seen sledding down Trollweiss Mountain whilst looking at one of the signs in the Trollweiss Hunter area. He says "Hic senex, ludavit unum...ludavit knickumnackum", which is Latin for "This old man, he played one... he played knick-knack". Apparently, the Wise Old Man is on holiday in the area.

Characters

 * Elfinlocks makes her 3rd appearance in Burgh de Rott, she is walking around lighting fires for the villagers.
 * Distantthin, a player found in Pest Control, is seen using a Dharok's greataxe with one hand, and an Unholy Book in the other.
 * Cool Mom227 appears again in Trollweiss Hunter Area
 * Purepker895 appears again in Trollweiss Hunter Area
 * Qutiedoll appears for a brief moment in Lletya as a level 99 in full saradomin dragonhide and a trimmed skill cape.
 * 1337sp34kr appears again in the hunting area.
 * Donkey Wrong is possible a reference to the video game character Donkey Kong.
 * Sarah Domin is a reference to Saradomin.
 * Lapsang and Souchong refers to a type of tea. Many other Player NPCs in the game rooms; names also relate to tea, such as Milknosugar.
 * Funorbrox is a clear reference to FunOrb, which was added by Jagex in the last week of February.
 * Cow1337Killr can be spotted during cutscene of Animal Magnetism quest killing cow with Dharok's greataxe.
 * 2scompany, 3sacrowd, and 4sjustsilly are named so based on their order of appearance. At first, 2scompany is shown standing on the top floor. Next, 3sacrowd climbs up the stairs and is attacked. Then, 4sjustsilly arrives, but is stopped by a barricade.
 * Heresjohnny may be a reference to Stephen King's famous book and film, The Shining. It could also be a reference to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
 * Knickknack, Paddywhack, Giveadog, Abone are references to This Old Man, a nursery rhyme

In the Gnomecopter rides, running player characters in the members' area only SEEM to run. They actually walk. Notice their moving speed and their behaviour when getting stuck.

Of course, none of these people are actually players.

Glitches

 * You can fight players on the Gnomecopters in PvP worlds. When the player dies, they die on the floor on the place the Gnomecopters are. [Fixed]
 * There is a glitch which allows you to get a Saradomin/Zamorak cloak and bandages for Castle Wars in F2P worlds. The glitch also allows players to fly around without the gnomecopter. [Fixed]
 * Soon after the gnomecopters were introduced,a glitch was rumored to exist where players could walk on the water where to gnomecopters took off. Whether this was true is unknown, and if it was it would probably be caused by the water being programmed as land to allow gnomecopters to travel on it. [Unknown if fixed, or even ever existed]