The Runes of Magic open beta, which began on Dec. 15, seems to be going well according to Frogster, its publisher. More than 100,000 characters were created in the first few hours, and an additional server had to be created on Monday afternoon to handle the amount of players.

In the past few hours Frogster also noted a significant increase in registration numbers. Out of the total number of 220,000 registrations, more than 20,000 Accounts were created on Monday alone and immediately entered the game world: more than 2 million quests were completed in over 200,000 hours of combined playing time in the game world of Taborea.

If you'd like to participate, head on over to the Runes of Magic Web site and register. You can read the full press release below.

Berlin, Dec. 17th 2008: The start of Runes of Magic’s open beta phase exceeded all expectations of publisher Frogster significantly. Over 100,000 characters were created in the first hours and are now populating the world of Taborea. Technically the start went smooth despite the heavy rush of players. Due to the high number of players, Frogster opened an additional game world on Monday afternoon. The international community now is spread over seven servers – even though Runes of Magic is only in the early stages of the open beta phase.

In the past few hours Frogster also noted a significant increase in registration numbers. Out of the total number of 220,000 registrations, more than 20,000 Accounts were created on Monday alone and immediately entered the game world: more than 2 million quests were completed in over 200,000 hours of combined playing time in the game world of Taborea. These numbers underline the relevance of quests and immersive background story in the MMORPG developed by Runewaker Entertainment.

„We will systematically analyse the feedback of the high number of players in the coming weeks and use it to give Runes of Magic the final polish for the official release in the first quarter of 2009,” welcomed Daniel Ullrich, Director of Product Management, the active participation of the players. The beta is now open to all interested players and the game can be downloaded free of charge after a short registration on www.runesofmagic.com.

Runes of Magic – a world full of wizardry and adventure
With an extensive range of features Runes of Magic prepares to redefine the standard of free-to-play MMO games. Right from the launch Runes of Magic will convey its absorbing story through more than 1.000 quests embedded in an atmospheric world. Players can choose between six main classes. Combined with a secondary class they dispose of 36 individual combinations of character classes over all. All characters possess unique skills with impressive combo attacks and can use mounts. A particularly attractive feature for guilds and players is the possibility to arrange their own virtual homes with individual furnishing. Thanks to an extensive crafting and reputation system, thrilling PVP as well as demanding dungeons and boss-monsters, no wishes remain unsatisfied. The Taiwanese developer Runewaker has developed Runes of Magic according to western MMO standards within a time frame of three years. The studio will provide new challenges for players every three to four months with free add-ons and updates. MMO fans can find more information, pictures and videos on the official website www.runesofmagic.com.

Runes of Magic features

• Free2play: no monthly fees, free download
• Extensive dual class system (six primary and secondary classes)
• Versatile spell- and attack-combinations
• Enthralling background story
• More than 1.000 quests and quest series on launch
• No zone boundaries thanks to seamless architecture
• Dungeons: Instanced and tile based as well as persistent
• Individually developable skills and spells
• Armor sets with special bonuses
• Dynamic item system with hundreds of runes for upgrading
• Optional PvP system with arena battles and guild wars
• Ranking system with player-ranking lists
• Multitude of unique mounts
• Epic crafting system with the chance to improve existing items
• Personalization of player houses through individual furnishing
• Reputation system
• Customisable user interface with the option to use Add-Ons
• Map and radar system to find dealers, resources and quests easily
• Ingame auction houses for trading items
• Teleport-Runes for instant travel
• Mouse and keyboard controls for movement
• Regular updates with new content
• Cross-server fights in three-server-battle in development
• Guild houses in special zones in development