With heavy steps you move through the Ystra Highlands, those lands of snow and ice.
Penetrating those dangerous ground ever deeper you're being driven by the urge to find new adventures.
The tracks you have found flash once again before your inner eye, showing huge, nature-gnawed bones casting their tips to the sky above.
Those pictures seem to spark your inner flame again and again, driving you forward through icy canyons and caves.

While you pull your furlined cloak closer around you, your steps leave cracks on the ice below your feet, ever reminding you of the hostile enviroment around you.
A rare flash of dsunlight breaks through the clouds, but instead of granting you the much needed warmth, it only blinds you, being reflected a million times by the icy structures around you.
Only then do you realize where you are: a huge desert of ice, where only the toughest hunters and lumberjacks dare to set foot...

The Dragonfang Ridge!

Link: RoM-Forum
Link: Dragonfang Ridge

We have added a new batch of wallpapers to our site: A map presenting the first zones of Taborea.

Have a look and download the version that matches your screen-size, so you already familiarise yourself with the beautiful lands your are going to explore soon in the Open Beta.

We have wallpapers in the following resolutions:

• 1024 x 768
• 1280 x 720
• 1280 x 1024
• 1600 x 1050
• 1600 x 1200

See you in Taborea!

Link: Wallpaper-section
Link: RoM-Forum

Silberfuchs and Kerensky are truly devious.

During a stroll through the forums, they have hidden two images in some random postings somewhere on the boards.

You can now go through all of the boards and when you've found the images and figured out to which place in the game they refer, you can win your spot in the closed beta.

All you have to do is: be quick! The first 10 to send in the right answer are in.

Send your correct answer with the name of your forum account by the 25th November 2008 to: events@runesofmagic.com

Have fun and good hunting!

Link: RoM-Forum

Two interesting updates arrived in the news room today.

#1: MMORPG.com Chat Log available

MMORPG.com has kindly posted the chat log of Saturday's live chat with the community.

Head over to their site and have a look at the numerous questions and answers.

Link: MMORPG.com chat log

#2: Community Design contest

As our forum resident Dasadorah pointed out, the RoM community recently held its first Photoshop contest (initiated by EstebanPR) and the results are in!

Out of the many amazing art pieces submitted by our community, SimonSaysBaka is our winner!
 
Photoshop 1st Edition was held on November 8th -November 11th. The Photoshop 2nd Edition is on the way. Make sure you stop by and get your entries in.
 
Link: Photoshop *1st Edition* of RoM
Link: Photoshop *2nd Edition* of RoM
 

This week in the limelight of our attention are two major news:

MMORPG RoM Forums

MMORPG.com now has their own Runes of Magic forum category! The General Discussion is already seeing a fair amount of postings.

After the successful dev-chat on Saturday, 15 November, MMORPG's Community Manager Kunou has opened a thread where players can ask questions on Runes of Magic which we will then answer.

Link: MMORPG.com
Link: MMORPG.com RoM-Forum

ESL Key Giveaway - Closed Beta

The Electronic Sports League is giving away keys to the Runes of Magic Closed Beta test! Simply go to their site, register with them and get your chance to receive one of the sought-after Closed Beta keys.

Link: ESL
Link: ESL Closed Beta Key giveaway

As a reminder to our community: There are still two art and design contests running: The Design a Cape contest, where you can design a cape that will be put in the game. We already have over 150 entries, but the competition is still open. Send us your design by the 25th of November 2008 and have your design in the game.

And there is the small contest on our boards where Silberfuchs and I are asking you to create a forum signature which we will then use to sign our postings with. Check out the thread on the forums and take part. This contest ends on the 21st November 2008.

Link: Design a Cape contest
Link: Create a signature for Kerensky

As some already might have noticed, our forums are intermittently unavailable or unresponsive.

We are experiencing technical difficulties and will have to take down the boards for maintenance. At the moment we do not have an ETA when the maintenance is over, but we will keep you posted.

Thank you for your patience.

This goes to all the artists of Runes of Magic - Fame awaits!

Now is your time to leave your mark on the game: You have the chance to create a cape that Runewaker will put into the game!

Simply download the template, draw or paint and send us your creation! Our jury will then decide whose cape design will be added to the game.

The competition ends on Tue. 25th November 2008, 10.59pm GMT /  11.59pm CET
Send your entries to event@runesofmagic.com

Good luck!

Link: RoM Cape template
Link: RoM Forum

On Saturday 15th November 2008 at 9pm GMT / 10pm CET yours truely will be available in MMORPG.COM's live chat, talking a bit about the development of RoM.

You are gladly invited to join us and have a chat with me, Kerensky, and others from Frogster's RoM-Team.

Link: MMORPG.com
Link: MMORPG.com - News Posting
Link: RoM-Forum

The German community beat us to it - they started designing a forum signature for my highly esteemed colleague Silberfuchs.

I ask you to create a signature for me as well. We can't let him have a user-created forum signature and not me!

Not only will you be able to permanently showcase your artistic talent but the "winner" will also secure yourself a spot in the closed beta.

Check the forum-thread for more information and to present us your creation.

Link: "Create a signature for Kerensky" - Thread
Link: DE Signature contest
Link: RoM-Forum

Tonight will see the end of this year's Halloween event.

If you missed the event, don't worry - there are more to come in the future. Next time we celebrate will be in mid-December, when we present you our Winter Event.

And if that's not enough, we will be running many more ingame Events written, organised and run by our Eventmasters. We will release more on Events and Eventmasters later.

We would like to thank all our beta testers for their participation and hope veryone enjoyd the show.

Link: RoM-Forum