Knowledge is Power!

Where to start...
It sure has been a while since I've been in charge of a major update like this, so bare with me. As you've seen in recent weeks, May has been hyped up as a very big month for Surreal - lots has been planned and I can assure you that May will not disappoint. We've got lots to cover, and trust me when I tell you... I mean it when I say the word lots. Let's get right into it, then!

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Forum & Recruitment Topic Refurbishment
Our forums have been graced with a brand new (default) skin, by the name of Mundus (meaning clean, neat and elegant in Latin). There is a flexible width version available as well - I hope you all enjoy this one as it makes the forums a little easier to read and much prettier! The old forum theme is still available to all users and members under the name Surreality.

The Surreal Recruitment topic has also received a tiny lick of paint, following the new Runescape clan update released by JaGeX. This has been upgraded to fit in with the new updates made and keep our information current once again for Summer!

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Revamped Activity Procedures
One of the most important parts of this post today is that we are introducing some new guidelines in regards to your activity. Month in and month out, you all continue to amaze me with your attendance numbers; you all share the same spirit towards the clan and for that I'm so happy!

The new procedures are as follows and do affect your time here, so please read through these and understand them as you'll need to somewhere along the line:

• Live activity records & data are now available at everyone's disposal to track your progress in monthly activity checks
  
• Inactivity notices have a new procedure to them. Consult the new Inactivity Notices topic to let us know what's going on. Remember - there are rules attached to this now, so read up!
  

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New Informational & Official Topics
Many informational topics around the board have been 'normalised' to our current format of topic layout. This will improve the overall consistency of the forum, making it easier to access information that is current and to the point. Many topics have had more information added to them, and in some cases we have brand new topics. Be sure to check out the Information forums for all the latest!

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New Clan System Guidelines
JaGeX have provided us with a brand new Clan System, and you may or may not have noticed that not a lot of the Surreal website, forums and our procedures & rules in general do not include information related to this new update.

Most of the information on the boards have been modified to include the change that JaGeX have brought us, including information and history on our clan as well as a pretty picture of our lovely clan cape! 'Gotta love black and blue, eh Meg?

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New Stickers!
Now we're getting down to business. Serious business. Stickers have been taken for granted lately, and now we have Meg in charge of them, I've decided to implement a bunch of new, fun based stickers as well as some other cool ones that can be used at the staff's disposal to reward those that deserve them!

A tweak has been added to our new default skin which only displays stickers if you opt to see them. If you do not want to see them all the time, they are not shown! Simple

Stickers will be given out now for new achievements, especially in Pick your Poison, and we now mark 'Hero' stickers, which recognise those with an oustanding amount of experience in a certain craft or skill within Runescape. Enjoy the update, from the Stickers department!

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While You Were Typing & Reputation Bars
A little extra code has been added to the forums that warns you if replies have been made to a topic while you were typing. Though this is not a major change, it is one that was asked for in Feedback numerous times - so I figured I'd make a section about it in this news topic. Have fun and enjoy the new posting feature!

Reputation bars are also being introduced, to further visualise the features of the forums. These simply provide a lot more achievement factor than a number to me, so I've implemented it into our boards. Enjoy and leave feedback

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Member of the Month: April 2011
Surreal would like to congratulate Old Jon for being the staff-picked member of the month! Your attitude and overall activity has resulted in you earning this award. We believe that you're very deserving and you are a role model for every clan member! Great job.

Code:

[img]http://s.clansurreal.com/old-jon.png[/img]

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Move to Teamspeak 3
As some know already, we previously had ourselves our very own Ventrilo server. Though this was paid for monthly and had a lot of channels available, we did not get it popular enough for it to be a great feature.

We are now in the process of implementing more voice chat related activities into the clan to promote our new voice chatting server which is running under TeamSpeak 3 now. TeamSpeak 3 offers a bunch of new features that people will find very useful, and at the moment this server is available for use by everyone

For more details check out this topic!

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Pick your Poison 2.0
And last but damn-sure not least... we have Pick your Poison version 2.0. The headline of this update, only at the end of the post, for added suspense and all. Last month, you were informed that Pick your Poison was going to be taken down for one month. What was going to happen to it, you did not know. What was changing, you did not know. Today the answers are revealed!

Our overall plan with PYP was to reform it so that its more organised, accessible and flexible with people's lives. With this update, have we achieved that goal? Yes. We have managed to simplify PYP and form it into something workable. It truly is a part of Surreal now! Below are some major changes made to PYP that should be noted:

• All PYP topics were redesigned and rewritten
  
• Team based forums have been cleared and re-organised
  
• We have a new opt in system which allows you to opt in and out of challenges based on your availability
  
• Team names have changed!
  
• PYPoints have been refined
  
• We have an all new leaderboard!
  
• Disqualifications are now in place should rule breaking occur
  
• Stickers and Signatures are now given to those who win PYP
  
• Teams will no longer fall victim to a shuffle at any point
  
• A more organised schedule, we have preset weekends for PYP challenges instead of sticking them at the end of each month
  

This is an absolutely amazing update, I'm so pleased about it!
So glad to see the return of pick your poison, I hope it proves to be as good as we anticipate, it doesn't look like it will dissapoint.
Congratulations to Old Jon on being April's member of the month, really well done!
The boards look great, the stickers look great, everything looks amazing! Thank you to everyone who contributed to all these changes it is very much appreciated! Your work will be credited!
<3333

I ♥ Updates!

Grats old Jon on MotM!

The updates are fantastic Jord, so much work has been put into it!

Congrats Jon on MoTM! well deserved

Superb-job team, honestly. These updates are amazing, and there's nothing that is bad about them. You guys are awesome with helping this clan, and I honestly hope we keep this up. Good job!

Fantastic updates, Downfall! The new default theme looks great and the changes are very promising. Thanks for putting so much effort into it; it's very much appreciated!

Congrats to Jon on member of the month! w0000t, you go man!

Exceptional, how a clan with so much to offer finds even more yet to bring to the table. I tip my hat not only to Downfall and the staff, but to every member.

And congratz to Old Jon for MOTM, haven't talked to you much but you seem like a nice fellow, and quite deserving of the honor.

Some really good updates here.

Well done to all involved

Awsome update Downfall
Really liked the changes made
Keep the great work

And congrats to Jon for the member of the month award

W.O.W.
Amazing update in there !
Thanks for all of this <3!