frogster posts

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.

Tags: 7-eleven, business-models, f2p, free-to-play, frogster, frogster-interactive, game-cards, news-items, playspan, rom, runes-of-magic

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.

Tags: business-models, crafting, f2p, free-to-play, frogster, frogster-interactive, game-mechanics, quests, rom, runes-of-magic, runes-of-magic-the-elven-prophecy

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!

Tags: contest, facebook, frogster, giveaway, rom, runes-of-magic, twitter, youtube

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!

Tags: dungeons-and-dragons-online, frogster, lair-of-the-demon-dragon, raiding, romance, runes-of-magic

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!

Tags: contest, contest-winners, free-to-play, frogster, halloween-2009, rom, runes-of-magic

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.

Tags: frogster, frogster-interactive, halloween, Halloween2009, runes-of-magic

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!

Tags: bat-witch-hat, event, frogster, giveaway, halloween2009, runes-of-magic

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!

Tags: frogster, frogster-interactive, runes-of-magic

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.

Tags: cave-of-the-water-dragon, elven-prophecy, frogster, frogster-interactive, runes-of-magic

Bounty Bay Online's upcoming expansion to introduce PvP tournaments

by William Dobson Sep 30th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Historical, Expansions, PvP, News items, Bounty Bay Online

Beyond the Horizon, the free expansion to Bounty Bay Online, has been confirmed by Frogster as on track for its intended Q4 2009 launch. Along with this good news, they also updated their expansion teaser site with details that are sure to please PvPers. Beyond the Horizon will introduce a new weekly PvP tournament system, offering 1v1, 2v2 and 5v5 battles, with both prizes and a highly detailed ranking system.

But since Bounty Bay Online features sea and land combat, the question must be asked: which of these locations will the tournaments be held at? The answer is "both". Two new arenas will be added to the game, one for land and the other for sea combat. The player will get to choose which type of battle they want to register for, which is kind of too bad, from a comedy perspective -- imagine turning up for a sea battle without a boat.

Tags: bbo, beyond-the-horizon, bounty-bay-online, expansion, free, free-to-play, frogster, frogster-interactive, land-battle, pvp, pvp-arenas, sea-battle, ship-combat, tournaments

Runes of Magic Warden class overview

by Dan O'Halloran Sep 25th 2009 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Classes, Expansions, PvE, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

We've already covered the new Druid class that came with the The Elven Prophecy update to Runes of Magic this month. Now we explore the other new class, the Warden. This class relies on their blade to inflict damage on their foes. It's not a ranged attack class as it does not rely on the bow, it is a melee attack class. They also use their summonable nature spirits for quite a bit of DPS as well as their self-only utility and protection buffs.

The Warden comes with a number of damage dealing spells. But instead of being long range nukes, they are usually channeled through the Warden's weapons. Later on, the channeled weapon attacks will restore the Warden's health with every blow. The Warden does have one direct damage spell, but it drains the lifeforce of their pet. They also receive one area of effect damage spell. At level 32 the Warden gains the ability to wield two-handed axes and swords and at level 50 they get an AE melee attack.

Since the Warden is usually on the front lines of battle, he also has a number of protection spells to reduce damage to himself. These include emergency spells like the Level 16 Elven Amulet that reduces physical damage to the Warden for a short time. All of the Warden's buffs are restricted to themselves and their pets.

After the jump, a full list of abilities and more playstyle analysis for the class.

Tags: elven-prophecy, frogster, nature-spirit, natures-power, pet-class, pets, rom, rom-expansion, rom-warden-pets, warden

New Runes of Magic area "Autolia Volcano" to melt faces this month

by William Dobson Sep 21st 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Expansions, Patches, News items, Runes of Magic

Runewalker Entertainment and Frogster Interactive have put word out that a new area is coming to Runes of Magic at the end of September. The "Autolia Volcano" is actually part of the Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy expansion that was just released under a week ago, and will be another high-level region for players to progress after the Savage Lands on their journey to the new level cap of 55. And yes, the graphic above does appear to have a spelling error (it's spelled "Volcano" every time in the news article). The Naga race call the volcano home, so be prepared to engage these scaly foes if you choose to visit. Right at the foot of the volcano is the sprawling Naga city -- perhaps not the smartest place to build, but it doesn't sound like they had much choice after getting their scaly tails kicked in the Great War.

Ahead of the zone being released, there are a couple of ways you can get a small taste of what's coming. An article on the Runes of Magic website has two pages worth of detailed lore about the area, its points of interest and its inhabitants to read through. For those who aren't into the whole reading thing, we've got a trailer just past the break that you can watch instead.

Tags: aotulia-volcano, chapter-2, chapter-ii, f2p, free-to-play, frogster, frogster-interactive, naga, rom, runes-of-magic, runewalker-entertainment, the-elven-prophecy, volcano

Runes of Magic Druid class overview

by Dan O'Halloran Sep 18th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, PvE, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

The free-to-play Runes of Magic launched its first expansion called Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy this week. Along with new content came two new classes beloved to the fantasy RPG genre: Druid and Warden. Only playable by the Elf race, these two new classes use the power of nature to both defend and attack to keep their world safe.

The Druid class is envisioned not only as a healer and buffer, but also as a damage dealer and performer of great feats of magic. Certain spells increase the Druid's Nature's Power counter. With enough counters the Druid gets access to spells that can turn the tide of battle in a big way, both defensively and offensively. But with only cloth armor and a weak staff attack, melee damage is not one of the strong suits of this class, unlike their counterpart in other MMOs. Later in their career, Druids can specialize in augmenting either their healing or their damage spells.

After the jump, the full line up of spells for the class.

Tags: druid, elven-prophecy, frogster, natures-power, rom, runes-of-magic, warden

Runes of Magic to add new high level dungeon: The Origin

by James Egan Sep 8th 2009 at 5:00PM

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

The popular free-to-play MMO Runes of Magic has given its players a steady trickle of content updates since the game launched. We've mentioned that Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy will release on September 15th, and the game's developer Frogster has announced a new high level dungeon instance for this update called "The Origin".

Players will team up with elemental beings and guardian Ents to take on mutant beetles and bloodworms. There will be four bosses that players need to defeat, and the release from Frogster gives a bit of a spoiler about The Origin: "An opponent who was already believed to have been beaten returns to the fray." Frogster also states they'll continue to add new instances after The Origin's introduction to Runes of Magic, ensuring continued challenges for high level players.

Gallery: Runes of Magic: The Elven Prophecy

Gallery: Runes of Magic: The Weeping Coast

Tags: dungeons, fantasy, frogster, instances, patches, rom, runes-of-magic, the-elven-prophecy, the-origin

Massively's Runes of Magic Golden Warrior armor giveaway

by James Egan Sep 6th 2009 at 5:00PM

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

Massively's inbox is absolutely on fire with all the emails from people seeking the Runes of Magic Golden Warrior armor codes that Frogster was kind enough to give us. We're one of several gaming sites that Frogster reached out to for these exclusive armor giveaways, with each site giving away a piece of the complete Golden Warrior's set. But just because we've been tied up (literally) at Dragon*Con and PAX doesn't mean we've forgotten about you -- it's now time for Massively's Runes of Magic item code giveaway!

What are we giving away to our readers? The latest exclusive armor type is the Golden Warrior's set for characters level 25 and higher. Massively has the Golden Warrior's Shirt and there are only 1000 of these in the game. Are you ready to claim yours? Follow this link to Massively's code giveaway page, and follow the directions you'll find there.That's it! Keep reading below for more information and details on the giveaway.

Tags: contest, frogster, frogster-america, giveaway, golden, golden-warrior-armor, golden-warriors-armor, in-game-item, rom, runes-of-magic