Sunday, May 22, 2011

ATTENTION: NEW UPLOADING GUIDELINES

WARNING:
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUND HALF OR ALL YOUR GRALATS FOR AN UPLOAD THAT IS AGAINST ANY RULE BELOW INCLUDING COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT (even if it's an original piece of work, if it closely resembles a copyrighted character more than 50% it will be taken down if noticed) OR OFFENSIVE IMAGES.

BEST PIECE OF ADVICE - CREATE YOUR OWN STUFF AND DON'T REPLICATE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE CONSTITUTED AS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. IF YOU ARE UNSURE THEN DON'T UPLOAD IT! WE WILL NOT TAKE THE TIME TO GIVE FULL REFUNDS TO PEOPLE ARE WHO TAKE A RISK BREAKING RULES AND TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH IT! UPLOAD AT YOUR OWN RISK. ONCE YOU UPLOAD AN IMAGE WE ASSUME YOU HAVE READ THIS BLOG AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES

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Uploading Guidelines UPDATED for new uploading process 06/22/2011
========================================

!!!!ALWAYS CHECK OFF SET TRANSPARENCY IF YOU DID NOT SET IT YOURSELF!!!!

!!!!THE WEBSITE DOES NOT SET GIF TRANSPARENCY SO DO THOSE YOURSELF!!!!!

1. DO NOT USE SOLID WHITE OR BLACK! it will make your file transparent.

2. Keep everything appropriate. Meaning no profanity, nothing drug related, nothing sexual, nothing racist, nothing sexist, or in game Graal sprites. If we find that it is not original, we reserve the right to refund half or all your gralats as a penalty.

3. DO NOT MAKE THINGS THAT ARE COPYRIGHTED, TRADE MARKED, REGISTERED, PATENTED OR ANY OTHER SORT OF COMBINATION. Draw everything yourself. Do not use Google'd images, do not use game sprites, do not use predefined textures, or anything like that. Such as things you would find in a specific anime, internet memes, video game, movies or toys. If we find that it is not original, we reserve the right to refund half or all your gralats as a penalty.

4. Do not name your files after existing files. Or do not upload files under the same name (such as a sword and shield under the exact same name). If you want to update a shield, have us delete the original one and upload the new one under a different name. Do not use any symbols in file names except - and _. And keep file names appropriate. Please limit your file names to 24 characters (not including the .png).

5. The uploaders are NOT in charge of uploading the following: Hats and furniture. We have a graphics team to work on that separately.

6. We do not convert images into shields for you or draw shields for you. You draw everything yourself. We don't do touch ups either. Also, everything is uploaded in order. Do not ask us to upload something before someone else, because they may have been waiting a long time!

7. Please use the templates we provide! Adding color to one side of the template does not actually change it. Also do not keep text or extra space outside the templates. Templates can be found at tinyurl.com/graaluploading

8. Constant breaking of uploading rules will lead to banning


========
SHIELDS/SWORDS
========

Please see the first post on this blog for shield/sword templates and guidelines, or click here: tinyurl.com/graaluploading

1 NO GUNS
2 NO BIG ANIMATED SHIELDS
3 No shields that can be worn as hats, heads, or bodies. Meaning no glasses, masks, hairstyles, or anything like that--even if you drew it yourself.
4 Any shields and swords that pass 20kb will be deleted and reimbursed.



========
Bodies
========
1. No full gradient rainbow bodies.
( examples )

YES!






NO...




















2. No variating colored animations.
3. No bodies just made of sticks or outlines (that includes spaced out pixels).
4. No solid black OR white.
5. No circles, shapes, mini bodies or ridable animals as bodies
6. Bodies must consist of at least two arms (or legs).
7. No drop shadows
8. No semi transparencies

=======
Heads
=======

1. Heads must have eyes or some sort of visor if it is robotic
2. Cannot be combined with already existing hats that have been sold
3. No Drop shadows
4. No rapid variating colored animations.
5. No semi transparencies.
6. No mini heads



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Body and Head Templates

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PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE TO OPEN NEW WINDOW AND REVEAL ACTUAL SIZE, IMAGE IS SHRUNK FOR THE BLOG



























==========
Rejections
==========
Transparency Problems:
• Some of the colors on your file have become transparent.
• You did not click set transparency and your background is still there
• You did not use a full solid background and only part of the background was removed
• You used a gif file and did not remove the background yourself

Inappropriate:
• Something not suitable for the game that was listed above

Wrong Offset:
• Something is out of place

Incorrect Dimensions:
• You submitted something that was not used on one of out templates and is all over the place

Too Big:
• You overused the space on the shield

Not a Body:
• Something that cannot connect to a head and does not look like a body ( circles, shapes, blobs, etc )
• Does not have at least two legs it can walk on or two hands ( legs, genies, ghost, etc are ok)

Do not resubmit this:
• Files that have been declined various times for a number of reasons that break rules

If you agree to follow the guidelines you may upload your images at http://tin​yurl.com/c​lassicuplo​ading

-Trigger
















(artwork by Dannxthree)

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Graalonline Classic iPhone FAQ

Graal FAQ


Q: What is the Goal of this game? Are their quests?

A: Graalonline Classic for iPhone is essentially a virtual chatroom with a twist. There is no goal to the game but there are gaming elements such as capture the flag, sparring and Guild wars. You rank against other players and friends based on kills and spar wins. Customization (hats, bodies, shields, etc) will give your character originality and thus make you stick out in the community. The community allows for AN UNLIMITED amount of imagination and this is what makes Graal fun. You'll notice everyday something new going on in the community. Fashion trends, pop culture references, etc. It's a virtual world! These are real people of all ages! Just have fun!

As of right now we are not implementing quests as it takes away from the nature of the Graalonline Classic. If you download the game for PC (www.graalonline.com) you may find some servers such as Zodiac and Unholy nation that have more gaming elements filled with quests and leveling. Try it out!

====================================

Q: Can you transfer my account?

A: Email us classic@Graalonline.com with ATTN: XOR - ACCOUNT TRANSFER in subject line. MAKE SURE YOU SET YOUR EMAIL IN BOTH PROFILES or else we can't find you.

====================================

Q: How long does it take for an account transfer?

A: If you followed the directions above EXACTLY, it will take around 2 weeks. Be patient. Account transfers are are a privilege. As staff members, we are volunteers and we have many things we have to attend to. We work on our own free time for you, but do check the emails about transfers. If a month goes by try again from a different email just in case your email went to the spam folder.

====================================

Q: Can I be admin? How can I become an admin.

A: No. You may not become a staff member simply by asking. There is no one way to becoming a staff member, but for this particular server we scout players who have dedicated themselves to the server in more ways than just playing and loving the game. It is important to present yourself maturely, including outside forums including but not limited to Facebook, Skype, toucharcade, etc. We are very selective on who we choose and we keep a very close eye on our emails in case you sent an application or other email. In other words, background checks are performed--VERY intensely.

Although maturity is the #1 requirement to being staff, there is no set age to become staff so long as your skills in handling player feedback and other activities are performed well. Experience with Graal Editor, graphics, a SOLID knowledge in shield/sword requirements, Graal shop, and pc Graal experience is STRONGLY encouraged if you want to be staff. To learn more about development, visit the Graalonline.com forums.

====================================

Q. Is there an age limit to becoming an admin?

We have hired staff anywhere from ages 14-35. We do believe that maturity is more important than age, but we do prefer 18+ so that staff work does not effect school work. Stay in school!

Keep in mind if you are hired your higher ups will be 18+ so act appropriately.

====================================

Q: Hey Admin, I need to talk to you!!!

A: We have an email. It's classic@graalonline.com

It is pretty inconvenient for us to pm through the game while we are working on the server. Hundreds of players try to get our attention without telling us what they need in the first place. "Can we talk" "Can you come to my house I need to speak with you."

-ANYTHING you want to speak with us about can be communicated through email. PLEASE do not try to contact us through the game for selfish reasons such as inviting us to your guild, adding you, or banning someone (use report feature). EMAIL EMAIL EMAIL!!!

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Q: I was banned. Why? And can you unban me?

A: You were banned for breaking a rule. You can read some of the rules from the official Graalonline Code of Conduct.

It should REALLY be common sense why you are banned. If you are rude to others and you are caught (we have a reporting system) then you will be banned for a certain amount of time. Repeated offenses will result in a longer ban time. Bans can be anywhere from 2 hours - 1 month (in EXTREME cases a year) depending on the severity of the circumstance. Keep in mind that we do not tolerate rudeness towards our judgement. If you are banned, accept it. Being rude to us (e.g. feedback in CAPS, cursing, threatening, whining, lying) will result in a longer ban, and possibly an ip ban if it involves hacking.

On that note hacking (messing with the files of Graalonline application by means of jailbreaking), will result in longer bans without warning.

Some of the most common reasons for bans are the following:
  • Being rude to others (cursing, threatening, racism)
  • Being rude to staff members
  • Uploading vulgar images to the server (html or guild pictures)
  • Inappropriate guild names. Your guild will be renamed without refund with a warning the first time, and deleted with a ban the 2nd time without refund.
  • HACKING - This involves manipulating Graalonline files to alter your avatar to do things normal players couldn't do. These bans don't come with warnings. Your account will also be kept on a watch list.
  • Boosting - This involves speeding up your kills by killing the same account multiple times in a row. This assumes you are using another device or getting a friend to help you raise enough kills to be have top kills or more kills. The first time you do it, you will get a warning. We are able to detect boosting VERY easily. You may or may not be banned for boosting, however if you are caught doing it a second time, your kills WILL be reset. No exceptions.

No. We WILL NOT unban you NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BEG. If you continue to ask, please click this link and hopefully it will help you: tinyurl.com/canyouunbanme

====================================

Q: Why are there unreleased areas? And why can't we go there?

A: The classic iPhone server used to be a server on pc called classic. Most of these areas are incomplete towns and are closed off to the public so we have the option to develop new towns in the future. We kindly ask players not to glitch or hack to discover these areas to keep unreleased content a secret. We want to keep it a surprise so everyone will enjoy the work done. Please respect that.

The new areas are released whenever an idea comes up for a town. The areas you might see off map when you drag off map is actually not a 100% confirmed level but actually an unfinished world made by staff from years ago. If we do expand the map, those areas will be dramatically altered to better accommodate Classic iPhone's screen and themes. There is no set date to release a town.

====================================

Q: When is the new area going to open?

A: What new area? Seriously TELL US! As much as we'd like to tell you, even we are kept unaware of any new areas on the map opening in order to surprise others. Anyone saying "Open Bushtown" or "When is Lavatown gonna open?" is clearly just trying to get attention. Only a few of us are part of the Development team are are sworn to secrecy on new areas. We do not know when, where, why, how, or anything. It could be any time. Demanding it won't make it come faster and we are no longer releasing hints on facebook or anywhere about future projects due to players getting overly excited. This pressures our development team and we do not wish it to effect their lives. Keep in mind our talented development team is not immune to the pressures of real life (school, work, relationships, etc). Again, we are volunteers committing some of our free time to you guys out of our passion to help the community.


====================================

Q: Why was I banned from feedback? Can I be unbanned?

A: Most likely because you used feedback for another purpose other than feedback. Most common reasons we ban from feedback is harassment, spam, or using it as a means to communicate with us about non-Graal-related topics.. If you are banned you can still email us your ideas at classic@Graalonline.com. Once you are banned we will not unban. It's an unnecessary process for us to take time to do when we could be working the server. You may also find us on Facebook if you wanna leave us your ideas.

====================================

Q: BRING BACK OLD HATS!!!

A: Part of the fun of Graal is too have rare items that we release for certain events. If you miss out, don't worry there will opportunities for you to receive/purchase other special items that perhaps others won't receive. The game is all about customization and the more you play, the higher chance you'll be online when a special item is release (hide and seek, holiday, staff birthdays). Please do not feedback/contact us about us reselling a hat that was CLEARLY meant to be sold at a certain time. Respect our wishes. If we just release everything, it delegitimizes the the purpose of having special events in the game and it will make the game boring. Think about how BORING it would be if we sold EVERYTHING at one price all the time.

====================================

Q: ADD ME!

A: Please don't ask. We do not wish to pm players on the game when we have Facebook and email. We are overwhelmed with pms so we chose to turn them off so we are not distracted. We also apologize if we don't answer pms. Chances are we are busy.

====================================

Q: What happened to (ex-staff member)? Is there going to be a replacement?!

A: It's no one's business why anyone leaves us, not even ours. Typically a staff member leaves us due to inactivity (life goes on, interest in gaming doesn't always). We try to keep active staff members in the staff list. Many times staff members come back after long vacations, school, work, etc.

There is no set number of staff members, so if one leaves, they won't be replaces based on the fact that we have a "spot" available. We hire whenever we feel the server needs more staff members based on usercount, summertime, holidays, or staff inactivity due to life.

====================================

Q: Can you add my shield/sword hat, any graphics?

A: Please look at the blog post about uploads: http://tinyurl.com/graaluploadguidelines

====================================

Q: How old are you guys?

A: 87

====================================

Q: When will open rev? Can you let me in?

A: When we have a reason to. These parties are rare and exclusive. You never know!

====================================

Q: Why are some items more expensive than others? Why can you give us free content.

A: First of all, none of us profit off the game except for the company that produces the game--Eurocenter. We are told to keep prices the way they are.
We also want certain items to be more rare than others. Otherwise, the fun would be gone. We have seen this happen in many failed servers in the past. Also certain items take up a lot of memory, so to reduce potential lag we make these items more pricey. "rioting" won't help and you will be jailed for rioting without a permit.

====================================


NOTE: Any Era related questions/concerns including transfers, uploading, etc should be emailed to era@graalonline.com. Please keep classic and era related emails separate. We have different staff members handling each server.

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Q: I purchased a Gralat pack but I didn't receive them!

A: Sometimes if you are using a ba connection or you have jailbroken your iPod, iTunes has trouble transferring the information over to us. We apologize about it, but just send a receipt to our email, again, with ATTN: XOR in subject line and we will get to it.

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Q: Why isn't the bank open?

A: The baddies attacked it.

====================================

Q: ______ is an abusive admin. Please fire him/her.

A: We do our best to hire top quality staff but if you feel you were treated unfairly, send us an email. We will only respond to emails that are executed politely. Don't be rude. If we are able to investigate on the matter we will take proper action. However firing someone is almost never our first course of action. We take pride in our training process to ensure our volunteer workers are doing their patrolling right.


-NYN

Thursday, August 12, 2010

How to set transparencies

Due to the overwhelming amount of shield/sword submissions we get every day we will not accept shields that are not ready to be uploaded. Meaning, you MUST have transparencies set, you MUST use a proper template and you MUST NOT use solid black in your shields. This short guide will show you the fastest way to set transparencies on a shield/sword. It's quite simple.

1. Download paint.net from www.getpaint.net

2. Open your already made shield/sword in paint.net

3. Use the Magic Wand tool.

4. Click the background area (should be a color unlike the shield/sword)

5. MAKE SURE tolerance is set low. The lower the tolerance, the less shades of a color you select.

6. click ctrl + x

7. Profit. Save and MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT USING SOLID BLACK

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Shield and Sword Guidelines





Uploading Guidelines (Updated 03/01/2011)

If you have never created a shield or sword before, you should use a template as shown below. The images are generally made with a PC and if you have Windows you can draw with Microsoft Paint. Other great free programs include Paint.net, Gimp (Mac), and Graphics Gale*









*UPDATES*

(5/21/2011) Rapture
-Several changes due to the new uploading system. Emails are no longer accepted to upload shields, you must visit tinyurl.com/classicupload and upload through the website. Please visit the FAQ room for pricing info.

(3/01/2011)
-The wing template has been edited below. Please delete the previous template if you have saved it. We cannot accept shields that are more then 512 in width. Check your dimensions.
-Transparencies must be set for all shields png OR gif.
-We will be rejecting shields without notice. From now on we will only be accepting the most creative shields that come our way.

(11/20)
-No more armor or clothing shields. Basically if it covers the body and acts like a body, it will not be accepted.
-Please CLICK the shields below then save the image on the new page. The pics below are resized for this blog.

(8/12)
-If you do not know how to set transparencies (you REALLY should know how to) then the background color for your shield/sword must be one solid color that's NOT a color in the shield/sword.

(8/1)
-We've been getting a lot of players submitting their shields with the template on top of a GIANT WHITE BACKGROUND. These shields will be automatically rejected, please make sure the image file is the right size, don't include a giant white background behind a template.

(7/31)
-Any gray areas of offensive content not mentioned below will be judged by the up-loaders whether or not it would be suitable for a server with many children under 18. Please keep that in mind when sending in a shield that might offend others. If you're not sure about it, there's a good chance it can be rejected.

(7/19)
-We are no longer accepting gun shields.

-We don't accept shoulder pads as shields

(7/16)
-Although we upload new shields and swords every day, due to the overwhelming amount of submissions (we get about 200+ emails a day) we cannot upload a submission right away. Be patient, DO NOT send the same shield/sword more than once. We will eventually get to your e-mail. Anyone caught sending multiple e-mails with the same files will have their submission rejected. If everyone follows these rules, we will be able to upload shields/swords faster instead of rejecting half of them that come our way.


====================================================

Shield Uploading Guidelines


If you have never created a shield or sword before, you should ask for a template first. The images are generally made with a PC and if you have a windows you can draw with Microsoft Paint.
Rules:

1. NEVER save anything as jpg! It ruins the image and will not be accepted by the uploading website. Only png and gif are accepted ( note: the website will NOT add transparency to your image if it is a gif so make sure you have done this yourself)

2. Keep everything appropriate. Meaning no profanity, nothing drug related, nothing sexual, nothing racist, nothing sexist, no guns and in game Graal sprites

3. Draw everything yourself. Do not use Google'd images, do not use game sprites, do not use predefined textures, or anything like that. Also, nothing that would be copyright protected. Such as things you would find in a specific anime, video game, or movie.

4. No shields that can be worn as hats, heads, or bodies. Meaning no glasses, masks, hairstyles, or anything like that--even if you drew it yourself.

5. Do not send in repeated graphics or multiple recolors. Meaning, if a shield was already uploaded, don't rename it just to have a copy under your name. A few recolors may be nice but we don't need to upload every shade of the rainbow off of one kind of shield.

6. Do not exceed image sizes past 512 x 120. A lot of big images such as wings, in most cases, are rejected. If your wings do fit into the guidelines then we can accept them. Also, only small animated shields can be accepted.

7. Do not name your files after existing files. Or do not upload files under the same name (such as a sword and shield under the exact same name). If you want to update a shield, have us delete the original one and upload the new one under a different name. Do not use any symbols in file names except - and _. And keep file names appropriate. Please limit your file names to 24 characters (not including the .png).

8. The uploaders are NOT in charge of uploading the following: Hats, bodies, heads, furniture, levels, or anything else! Only swords and shields are accepted at this moment!

9. We do not convert images into shields for you or draw shields for you. You draw everything yourself. We don't do touch ups either. Also, everything is uploaded in order. Do not ask us to upload something before someone else, because they may have been waiting a long time!

10. Please use the templates we provide! Adding color to one side of the template does not actually change it. Also do not keep text or extra space outside the templates. Templates can be found at tinyurl.com/graaluploading

11. Any shields and swords that pass 20kb will be deleted and reimbursed.

If you agree to follow the guidelines you may upload your images at http://tinyurl.com/classicupload

===============================================================

Please CLICK the shields below then save the image on the new page. The pics below are resized for this blog.

===============================================================



(This is a great template to use for drawing freely. Just make sure not to save your image with the template attached.)



(This is the ONLY wing template we accept)
























































RULES FOR SUBMITTING SHIELDS AND SWORDS
  1. NEVER save anything as jpg! It ruins the image. Converting image types won't fix the graphic. Save as .png or .gif (for animated shields).
  2. Keep everything appropriate. Meaning:

    NO profanity
    NO racism
    NO sexism
    Nothing sexual
    Nothing drug related

  3. Draw everything yourself. Do not use Google'd images, do not use game sprites, do not use predefined textures, or anything like that. Also, nothing that would be copyright protected. Such as things you would find in a specific anime, video game, or movie.

  4. No shields that can be worn as hats, heads, or bodies. Meaning no glasses, shoulders, masks, hairstyles, or anything like that--even if you drew it yourself.

  5. Do not send in repeated graphics or multiple recolors. Meaning, if a shield was already uploaded, don't rename it just to have a copy under your name. A few recolors may be nice but we don't need to upload every shade of the rainbow off of one kind of shield.

    Also, NEVER USE SOLID BLACK PIXELS. Solid black at 0 0 0 shows up as transparent on the server, so instead use a dark dark grey. It can be 001 black, so long as it's not completely black. Avoid using solid white as well.

  6. You don't need to set transparencies but it would speed uploads up if you knew how to. When you visit tinyurl.com/graalupload you will notice a checkable box that will set the transparencies for you. It will detect the top left pixel and erase that color, so make sure your that color (background color) is NOT in the shield or that color in your shield will be deleted as well. It doesn't matter what the color is so long as it's not in your shield, but it's best to use something bright like hot pink or neon green so you can see you shield better when you edit.

    Please make sure the final image has a SINGLE COLORED BACKGROUND! Please, no gradients, checkered backgrounds, or template backgrounds.

  7. Do not exceed image sizes past 512 x 120. A lot of big images such as wings, in most cases, are rejected. If your wings do fit into the guidelines then we can accept them. Also, only small animated shields can be accepted.

  8. We do not convert images into shields for you or draw shields for you. You draw everything yourself. We don't do touch ups either. Also, everything is uploaded in order that it is received. Do not ask us to upload something before someone else, because they may have been waiting a long time!

  9. Please use the templates we provide! Adding color to one side of the template does not actually change it. Also do not keep text or extra space outside the templates.

When you're done visit tinyurl.com/classicupload and follow the process. You will have to enter the email associated with your Graal and iTunes account in order for us to track you and transfer you shield/sword.



-NewYorkerNick and Diz (Artwork by Punk182)