Since the release of Chapter I – the rise of the Demon Lord, the people of Taborea have felt the impact of his nefarious designs on their previously pristine land. However, despite vanquishing many threats, even the bravest heroes were unable to face the source of the unrest, the mighty and fearsome Sirloth. This all changes with the next patch, which includes a high level raid dungeon where those with nerves of steel  can attempt to vanquish the Demon Lord and his evil henchmen.

Keeping up with all of the great stuff posted about Runes of Magic online can be time-consuming…here are links to some of the most recent things I’ve found online.

Starting out, check out a New Year’s resolution from Runewaker, the developers of Runes of Magic. Sounds like they’ve got a busy 2010 ahead of them…which means more exciting updates to Runes of Magic!

One of the most comprehensive articles I’ve read recently about Runes of Magic is this one from MMO Voices, it goes through what makes our item shop unique, how the crafting and housing systems open up the possibility for horizontal gameplay, and has an overview of all the different ways you can customize the game and your character. Great read, especially for anyone who is new to the game or curious about what it has to offer.

If you like to keep up with what type of awards are circulating in the MMO sphere, you’ll be happy to know that Runes of Magic has recently won multiple awards from various sites. In the Massively Reader’s Choice Awards we picked up multiple awards, including Overall Best New MMO for 2009 and Best Free-to-Play Game of 2009, and the staff choice award for Best Launch of 2009. We were also named the top free-to-play game at MPOGD.com.

Finally, just a small plug for the other places you can keep up with Runes of Magic news online: find us on Twitter for of-the-minute updates on news and specials, and check out our main facebook page as well! You can also follow GM Eres on Twitter for even more RoM news.

As a dusting of snow begins to cover the mountains of Taborea and a winter chill starts biting the noses of brave heroes heading into battle, the Phirius Workshops are hard at work preparing the Snowflake Festival. Decorations for this merry event are beginning to appear across the realm, bringing the warm winter’s spirit into the hearts of many.

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Recently, I worked on a blogpost for our developer blog on MMORPG.com. It’s an interview with GM Eres, and she shares lots of interesting information about what it’s like to be a GM behind the scenes. Thanks to the enthusiasm of our GM team, I got so much interesting feedback that I ended up with some extra information to share with our blog readers.

Ever wondered how you become a GM? I asked two members of our GM team this question and here are their answers – aspiring GMs take note!

How did you become a GM?

GM Eres: This is actually an interesting story. I had a guild running on a free to play game called Rohan Online. My taste is mainly PvE games and I decided to browse for a new MMO and found Runes of Magic when it was still in development. A few weeks later I saw that they put up a forum and were talking about sending out beta keys, and I became interested. At this time, I was pushing my boyfriend Icarii to have our guild transfer over to RoM. We both played and learned the game inside out, did some forum moderation, then “Boom!” moved to California. Just goes to show a little hope and hard work can go a long way.

GM Crius: I became a GM by being knowledgeable in MMO’s playing many different ones from Everquest I to II to Guild Wars, WoW, Fiesta, Age of Conan the list carry’s on. It was a life long dream to be working for an MMO publisher instead of just playing them. I used to be a Hard Core MMO Gamer myself before becoming a GM.

GM Crius also had a great answer for the funniest thing someone ever said to him in-game – “The spammer’s gonna get the hammer!”

With the newest patch to Runes of Magic, a new holiday event has been introduced: the Harvest Festival! This festival was created when ancient villagers in the borderlands discovered a lush paradise to inhabit after suffering famine and destruction at the hands of a terrible blizzard. When these villagers followed bird footprints across the snowy landscape, they reached land so beautiful they decided to settle there, and created the festival to honor the discovery.

In the Harvest Festival, players can help gather supplies for the Autumn Banquet, and receive rewards that can be traded for special, limited-time gift boxes. Inside many cities in Taborea, tables are lined with a bountiful feast of harvest delicacies, including ostrich meat, providing them with useful nourishment for future adventures. This autumn event also involves gathering cinnamon leaves, which add a delicious taste to roasted ostrich, and can be traded for a special reward. An easy place join in the festival is the gates of Varanas, where players can help gather the provisions for the feast, and inside Varanas’ central plaza, where loaded tables of food await. Enjoy joining in the delicious festivities!

Thanks all for entering our Halloween Screenshot Contest! Pictured are the winners for house decorations, guild castle decorations, and costume screenshots!

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Happy Halloween! In preparation for that haunted eve, we thought we would share some screenshots of Halloween decorations and in-game costumes. We hope that these small images serve as a little preview of the many options in the game for creative costumes and decorations! We’re excited to share your contributions of Halloween decorations as well.

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FAI decided to hold a creative writing contest recently called “Tell Us Your Story.” The idea is for players to share interesting moments they have experienced in the world of Runes of Magic, whether they are funny, strange, or anything else worthy. During the two weeks period, we were pleasantly surprised by all the entries submitted! Thank you to everyone who sent in an entry! We thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them.

After careful reading of all the stories received, we have chosen the top three winners.

1st place- Smedley

2nd place- Meru

All three will win special in-game items, and here is Smedley’s hilarious short story.

It was a dark night in the Howling Mountains and the only player online was a tired newbie named Noobstixx, who had been gathering resources for what seemed like all day. He was heading back to the Pioneer Village to see if any resources respawned when suddenly a level 50/50 mage priest wearing a long crimson robe with a light blue collar and wielding a small golden wand not much bigger than a tablespoon logged in. Noobstixx quickly hid behind a tree, thinking that the mage priest would PK him and steal his hard earned resources.

“Oh sorry I scared you, didnt think anyone else would be online.” The mage priest had a surprisingly calm and gentle voice. “Who are you and why are you here?” Noobstixx shouted, drawing his small beginner dagger that looked more like a butter knife than a dagger. “My name is Uberstixx, I often help out newbies in Silverspring and the Howling Mountains, but tonight i’m hunting for my old enemy Bloodystixx.

Then Noobstixx asked the most ridiculous question he could think of at the moment: “Oh really, can I come too ?” Uberstixx chuckled and replied, “Well sure you can try and kill him for me but you wont be able to even get to him as a newbie, here, take this! Uberstixx muttered a spell and suddenly fancy dark green armour with strength runes embedded in the breastplate started to form around Noobstixx’s body. A golden butter knife also began to form on the ground. Noobstixx now looked like a level 50 (minus the butter knife).

They were now ready to find and defeat the extremely frightening Bloodystixx, so they headed north to Silverspring and then turned east to Ravenfell, as they arrived at the Abandoned Fortress, they saw Bloodystixx leaning against a wall, attempting to strike a cool pose. “So you came to fight me again, Uberstixx? Looks like you even brought a little friend with you!”, Bloodystixx taunted. “Actually I won’t be the one fighting, my “little friend” will be.” Uberstixx smiled and pointed at Noobstixx.

“HIM? Havent you realized he’s only level 5???”, Bloodystixx asked, chuckling. “Wait a minute he is?” Uberstixx hovered his cursor over Noobstixx’s name and realized it was true, he had forgotten to cast the Get-To-Lvl-50-In-5-Secs spell. “Oh well if you want me to fight him then I guess i’ll beat him up for fun!” Bloodystixx shouted his battle cry and charged at Noobstixx, daggers raised. Thats when the message showed up: “You cannot attack players below level 15″.

Now it was Noobstixx’s turn to retaliate,(Thanks to Uberstixx’s PK-At-Any-Lvl spell) so he lunged at Bloodystixx with his golden butter knife, killing him instantly, at that same moment, all of the game servers shut down.

THE END

Here’s an interview with the Elites Guild, the winners of our most recent costume contest, and some selected pictures of the guild members posing for the contest!

Frogster- How many members currently are in your guild?

Elites- 110 Elites Members…

F- Are you all from the same location, or all over?

E- All Over…

F- When did you start your guild? (in game and out)

E- 26 Days Ago…

F- Have you played together on other games?

E- Nope…

F- How did you guys feel about winning the contest?

E- Excited…

F- Your guild screenshot is awesome, did you have a fun time taking the screenshot? How did this experience effect your guild?

E- It was fun =) Everyone fad an awesome time taking it… We all got to group together and have a good time….

F- If you could name one thing that you walked away from this event with that was special, what would it be?

E- Having one of the best guilds possible…

F- Any information that you would like others to know about your guild?

E- Stay out of our way, ’cause here we come…

From my own personal perspective; the best part of playing a game can be customizing your character. The character usually starts off without special abilities, skills, or items, but games like Runes of Magic allow lots of options for making your character look unique. After running our creative costume contest, we thought it would be interesting to share the stories behind the fascinating costumes of the winners.

Costume winners

Explore the stories behind these intriguing costumes

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