Filed under: Runes of Magic

Runes of Magic cracks open the Lair of the Demon Dragon

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 18th 2009 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Patches, Endgame, News items, Runes of Magic

What's more threatening to the world of Taborea than a dragon? A demon dragon, obviously! Duh! The only thing more threatening than that would be a emo teen-vampire dragon, but it's good that the team at Runewaker didn't go that far. (Or did they?)

This Thursday, the wrath of the demon dragon will be unleashed upon all high level players in patch 2.1.3. The dungeon contained in Aotulia Volcano is the new hardest 12 man raid in the game -- a worthy challenge to players at the top of their endgame.

Even if you're not super high level, the patch will also be introducing a cleaned up crafting system with a new, intuitive UI, and the special "Autumn Harvest" festival. Players will be able to stuff their faces at banquet tables scattered across the land in addition to participating in special holiday themed daily quests. So don't be afraid to jump in and enjoy the new patch this Thursday!

Runes of Magic and Playspan team up for game cards

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 17th 2009 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Runes of Magic has been enjoying a nice burst of success recently, and as a free-to-play game one of the biggest things that helps it is increased visibility and access to the game's microtransaction system. So it should come has little surprise that Frogster Interactive has teamed up with PlaySpan to start moving branded game cards into 7-Eleven stores, improving both visibility and accessibility in one fell swoop. In addition, Diamonds will be purchasable at PlaySpan's online store, already a hub for several popular free-to-play game currencies.

The game cards, which will come in $10 and $25 denominations, can be redeemed for in-game mounts, enhancements, and other improvements. Overall, this deal will give Runes of Magic a game card presence in over 46 thousand stores inside the US, a high visibility for a fairly young game that's pushing a still-developing business model. And it's certainly not going to hurt that you can pick up some game currency at the same time you grab a soda and one of those little taquito things for a snack on your way home from work.

Runes of Magic's milestone numbers

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 13th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Game mechanics, Crafting, Quests, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Free-to-play MMOs have been staking out an impressive share of the gaming audience, and one of their poster children is Runes of Magic. Frogster Interactive, is understandably pleased with the success that the game has enjoyed, so they've taken the time to share some interesting figures of the game's popularity.

The most recent chapter of the game, The Elven Prophecy, was released only a couple of months ago. Since then, over fifteen million quests have been completed (even more staggering when one considers that the game has recently cleared the two million mark for registered players). A quarter of a million bosses have been brought down in that span of time, as well as over sixteen million items crafted. Even allowing that some of those were likely craft grind fodder, those are impressive numbers.

Of course, one of the wonderful parts about any sort of free-to-play game is that any curiosity about the game can be satisfied by playing right away, which has no doubt contributed to the success Runes of Magic has enjoyed thus far. While it's not the biggest name in the industry, it's experiencing a groundswell of popularity, good news both for fans of the game and the business model alike.

Runes of Magic celebrates 10,000 Facebook fans

by Rubi Bayer Nov 9th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Some people will jump on any good reason to celebrate, and we love them for it -- especially when "party" equals "giveaway". Runes of Magic is celebrating a milestone: 10,000 fans on their Facebook page.

They're celebrating by sending fans on a scavenger hunt. Runes of Magic wants you to take a look around their social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, and find four gold coins that they've hidden. The coins spell out a word when put together. Find the word, head over to the contest page to enter it, and you've got a chance at winning. Ten people will be drawn from the pool of correct entries, with the first prize winner receiving a Leadtek Winfast GeForce GTX 275 graphics card. RoM t-shirts and mugs are up for grabs for nine more people.

To see the list of sites to visit, check the list on the official site, and good luck!

Runes of Magic introduces Lair of the Demon Dragon

by Rubi Bayer Nov 6th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

The Naga have settled around Aotulia Volcano, and they have a fancy new weapon at their disposal. They've captured Gestaro, a renegade Flame Dragon possessed by demons. Flame dragons are the most powerful of the five ancient dragon races, and the Naga plan to use this one to help suppress the free people.

That's the story in the brand new 12 player raid dungeon from Runes of Magic -- Lair of the Demon Dragon. Your job is to set Gestaro free, by venturing into the Autulia Volcano territory and fighting your way through elite Naga who aren't too keen on losing their new pet. If you can make it through the waves of Naga and break the magical dragon seal, as well as the general that the Naga send in as a last resort, Gestaro will appear and finish off the Naga for you.

This is an elite dungeon, and Runes of Magic warns that "Only the bravest Taborean heroes should choose this encounter," so visit the official for more of the story, and good luck!

Runes of Magic announces screenshot contest winners

by Rubi Bayer Nov 4th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Runes of Magic went all out this Halloween with lots of special items, games, decorations, and even some contests. The screenshot decoration contest asked players to decorate their houses, their guild halls, and even themselves in their best Runes of Magic Halloween style to compete for in-game prizes. Players had a great time with the contest, deploying armies of ghosts, witches, pumpkins and candles in their houses and guild halls. They decorated themselves just as thoroughly, with a combination of whimsical and scary Halloween costume pieces.

Runes of Magic announced the winners today, with first, second, and third place winners in the house and costume categories, and a single winner in the guild hall category. Each winner will receive their choice of a costume package for their character, with a number of choices for both male and female characters.

Congratulations from us to all of the winners, and enjoy your costumes!

Massively wishes you a happy Halloween

by Alex Ziebart Oct 31st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Aion, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Exteel, Free Realms, Champions Online, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they'll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there's any one in particular you're dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you're not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Gallery: Halloween 2009

Runes of Magic patches in 'Storming of the Acropolis'

by Kyle Horner Oct 28th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Today brings patch 2.1.2 to Runes of Magic, which is also being called Storming of the Acropolis. The biggest addition is of course a new dungeon in the form of the Naga Acropolis, which is crawling with elite henchmen. This is a particularly hard challenge meant for grouped players who'll eventually earn the chance to defeat King Sharleedah -- we've no doubt the king drops phat loots. Also coming with this patch are the Halloween Pumpkin Festival, some elite skills for the Elf classes, minor UI tweaks, a land expansion for the Aotulia Volcano zone and some bug fixing.

You couldn't ask for much more in a free content patch. We're sure the Runes of Magic community is already enjoying themselves with all the shiny new content. It's also good to see the Elves being fleshed out some more mechanically, as any new race added to an MMO often times needs some tuning before it falls in line with the previous races.

Happy Halloween from Taborea

by Rubi Bayer Oct 23rd 2009 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Events, in-game, Runes of Magic, Giveaways

Earlier this week we mentioned that Runes of Magic is one of the many games celebrating Halloween for the next week or so, but their celebration is definitely worth a closer look.

The party in Taborea includes everyone's favorite event: a giveaway. Give your character a Bat Witch Hat on us, and keep an eye on the Runes of Magic Facebook and Twitter pages for more freebies. If a hat isn't enough to satisfy your Halloween spirit, decorate yourself, your house, and even your pet with the Halloween bundles. They'll be around until November 1st.

Once you're suited up and decorated to your heart's content, log in and show it off for the in-game decoration contest. Screenshot your costume, house, or guild castle and send it in by the 28th for a chance to win an in-game Halloween decoration. You'll also want to keep your costume on for the in-game events from the Community Events Team. There are three games to participate in: Hide-n-Seek, Your Scary Costume, and Offer to the Goblin King, scheduled for each Friday and Tuesday until Halloween.

Finally, RoM goes real life -- they want photos of your real life Halloween decorations that have a Runes of Magic theme. Send them in by the 30th, and if your entry is posted you'll win even more in-game goodies.

Runes of Magic has put together quite a party - happy Halloween from Taborea, indeed.

Massively's exclusive Runes of Magic Halloween item giveaway

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 23rd 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, Massively meta, Runes of Magic, Giveaways

Today we're happy to announce another Runes of Magic item code giveaway, but this time it's for an exclusive in-game Halloween item called the Bat Witch Hat. This hat, as seen here, is strictly a fun holiday event item to help celebrate their Halloween event in style.

Only 1,000 of these hats are available, so you must act quickly! Head on over to our giveaway page to grab yourself a code and more information on applying it to your account. Good luck!

Thrice the Halloween update hath patch'd

by Rubi Bayer Oct 20th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Culture, Events, in-game, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

We are well into that time of year - Halloween is almost here and a quick look into nearly any MMO out there will show it. We've been talking about quite a few games out there and how they're celebrating, but they're certainly not the only ones putting jack-o-lanterns in their windows. Follow after the jump for a look at how some of our other favorite MMOs are celebrating.

The Zurhidon take revenge on Runes of Magic's European servers

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 13th 2009 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

European servers, prepare for war! Runes of Magic is digging deep into MMO playbook history, and they've chosen to pull out a classic move -- the GM controlled event. The mysterious Zurhidon have reappeared in Taborea, and it's up to the players to repel their attacks!

Each week, starting tomorrow the 14th and continuing until November 25th, two European servers will feel the wrath of the Zurhidon. Players will be notified what channel the event will be taking place on shortly before the event, and they'll be informed of the event's location at the same time as well. All attacks will take place at 7 PM BST (6 PM GMT.) At least no one can call the Zurhidon unpredictable!

Accompanying the waves of spawns will be two Zurhidon generals who will be, of course, controlled by some wrath seeking GMs. Glory awaits those who can hold back the horde, while death will only bring pain (virtual pain) and loss (experience debt!)

Runes of Magic introduces diamond cards at Target

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 12th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Runes of Magic is expanding their diamond trade to a black market. A black market of diamond and goods trade so black that their red ring logo demands fear and respect. They call this place... Target.

Odd movie introductions aside, Runes of Magic is offering their diamonds in new cash card form! For those of us who don't want to run out and throw a credit or debit card at the RoM website, we can now just visit Target and pick up some diamonds (the game's cash shop currency) in our next shopping run at the local strip mall.

Runes of Magic hits 2 million mark

by Rubi Bayer Oct 6th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Frogster-Interactive announced an exciting milestone for their free-to-play MMO Runes of Magic today: they have recorded over 2 million registrations.

The first chapter, Rise of the Demon Lord, was released only six months ago in English and German language versions. Runes of Magic increased in popularity with every month leading up to the recent September release of Chapter 2, The Elven Prophecy. The second chapter expanded RoM to include Spanish and French language versions, further increasing the game's reach and popularity. A Russian language version is well underway, and plans for further versions are being made to bring RoM to a wider audience.

Additionally, RoM has been consistent about treating players to smaller content updates to keep things interesting.

Rolf Klöppel, Director of Marketing & PR for Frogster, says "Runes of Magic has become a mega-seller in the few months since we launched. The 2 million registrations milestone we have now hit is yet further proof of the quality of our game and our communication strategy." Congratulations to the Runes of Magic team!

Runes of Magic reveals new dungeon

by Rubi Bayer Oct 2nd 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Free to play MMO Runes of Magic will release another content update next week for Chapter 2, The Elven Prophecy. The Cave of the Water Dragon will be the newest instance from Frogster for players to explore. Six player teams (with a level cap of 55) can quest from Polython to the Throne of Water in the Weeping Coast, where they will meet Zanordoth, King of Water Dragons.

Zanordoth is facing a problem that most parents of teenagers are familiar with: his son Lytfir woke up a bit cranky one morning, and turned against all humans. King Zanordoth banished him to a dark cave, but needs help putting the young dragon back to sleep. Players are given the task of collecting several items that will earn a crystal ball used to capture Lytfir and put him back to sleep, effectively sending him to his room until his attitude improves.

Cave of the Water Dragon is scheduled for release next week, with a teaser trailer to hold you over until then.