Tired of feeling like your Monster Compendium is somewhat useless? Well now Frogster has introduced a new "attribute upgrade" system to the Monster Cards in Runes of Magic, where players will receive specific attribute point bonuses alongside the usual monster information. In this way, the team notes that these monster cards will "no longer simply act as trophies for players," but they will also provide some nifty attribute upgrades! This new feature will be rolled out some time between now and May when The Elder Kingdoms is fully launched.

As well, in anticipation of this new system, the RoM team has also added 48 new cards bringing the total to over 800 monster cards in the Monster Compendium. Happy Hunting, everybody! You can read the full news post at the Runes of Magic Official Website.

Also, be sure to check out our coverage of the new expansion! Here is the central page for the expansion.

Ever since Runes of Magic hit the MMO market, it’s been known as one of the highest quality free-to-play games around. Including everything from raid-like instances to a plethora of mounts, Runes of Magic spares no expense for its player base. So we know we were going to see some cool new updates from the developers at this year’s GDC, and we weren’t disappointed. The highlight of the demo was guild-based PvP sieges, but much more is being introduced soon, so make sure you check out the video!

In a bizarre way of introducing their newest Community Manager, Lazlowe, to the Runes of Magic population, Frogster has decided to bring him in with a bang! Well, maybe more of a splat. According to Lazlowe, he has accidentally unleashed a massive legion of frogs upon the unwitting RoM community, and he's asking players to help him round them up! Introduced as the "Madness of the Frogs" event, players who kill regular frogs will get a chance to snag some fireworks, and players who step up to squash the boss frogs could get permanent pets! Of course, not all frogs are hiding goodies, so you may have to do some heavy smooshing to get what you want.

As well, the team is also offering XP and TP potions for 50% off as part of their introduction, so go say hi to Lazlowe and help him smash those frogs! You can read Lazlowe's awesome introduction after the jump.

Frogster announced today that the third chapter of Runes of Magic is scheduled to launch in May. The Elder Kingdoms update will increase the level cap to 60 and introduce the new continent of Zandorya to the game. A zone from the new continent will be released in April to prepare players for the launch of Chapter III.

The free update will include hundreds of new quests, three new cities, an expanded skill system, new instances, a marriage system, and more. More details can be found on the official Elder Kingdoms page.

UPDATE: Patch 2.1.6 will launch tomorrow, Feb. 4, following maintenance from midnight to 3 a.m. PST.

Frogster announced today that the gates of the Demon Stronghold will open with the upcoming launch of patch 2.1.6, giving players the opportunity to face the mighty Demon Lord once and for all. The new raid dungeon will be available to 12 high-level players and is located in the Naga Acropolis.

Players will have to defeat four bosses as they make their way to the throne room to get their shot at the Demon Lord. Of course, the final battle won't be easy: "Groups have to survive four phases of battle, overcome sworn helpers of the evil lord and fend off flying swords."

According to a recent change in the Diamond Trade page on the Runes of Magic website, Frogster is now limiting the things you can do with "Diamonds" (Frogster's in-game Cash Shop currency) if you've purchased these diamonds via potentially fraudulent methods. Apparently this change comes about due to the high volume of hackers who have been stealing Credit Card information and PayPal accounts in order to make quick diamond purchases online, only to gift (or sell) these diamonds to their main accounts.

As a way of rectifying this issue, the Runes of Magic team has declared that any Diamond purchases made via PayPal, Credit Card or PlaySpan will be completely unable to trade or gift any of their purchased Diamonds. Instead, Diamonds acquired via these methods can only be used to purchase in-game items for the user, but they cannot be traded or gifted away. Other forms of payment that require purchasing before being enabled, like Runes of Magic Gift Cards, Zeevex Cards and Ultimate Game Cards, will still allow the player to trade and gift their Diamonds normally.

You can read all about the change and what methods will allow you to trade online at the Diamond Trade information page here.

Frogster has posted a short letter on the Runes of Magic Facebook that looks back on the past year and confirms that Chapter III is already in development. "We are continuing to release new features, content and more in the coming months," the team wrote. You can read the full letter after the jump.

Runes of Magic officially launched in March. What have your in-game experiences been like this year?

Today marks the launch of patch 2.1.5: Gates of the Acropolis in Runes of Magic, and it adds a ton of new content to the game. The most noteworthy addition is the Zurhidon Stronghold instance, which is a challenging raid designed for groups of 12 players.

The patch also introduces a new epic quest line, an expansion of the plant system, new elite skills for Elven characters, and the launch of the Snowflake Festival. You can watch a trailer for the Zurhidon Stronghold on the Runes of Magic videos page.

Thanks to the votes of the German gaming community, Runes of Magic has earned the title of "Best International PC Game 2009" in the German Game Developer Awards. In celebration, Frogster is giving every player with a character that has reached level 11 at least 100 Rubies, which will be automatically credited to players' accounts this week.

Frogster also announced that Runes of Magic now has more than 2.5 million registered players in the United States, Europe and Korea. Between this milestone and the award, the free-to-play MMO is certainly ending the year on a high note.

Frogster is certainly getting in the holiday spirit with Runes of Magic. The team is currently hosting a contest that asks players to decorate their Twitter pages with a Runes of Magic holiday theme. The contest ends Dec. 31 and the winners will receive in-game items like costume bundles, wings and a 30-day reindeer mount.

In addition, Frogster announced in a press release that the in-game Snowflake Festival will launch in mid-December. To celebrate, the company is planning to host a "Creative Christmas Contest" that lets players take creative photos for the chance to win flat-screen monitors, graphics cards and a gaming mouse that features a hand-painted Runes of Magic design. More details can be found after the jump.

Lastly, you can count down the days to Christmas with the new Runes of Magic Advent Calendar. A door opens each day to show exclusive artwork, screenshots and pictures from the team.