In honor of the holiday season, Frogster will be donating a portion of the proceeds from a new Runes of Magic mount to Save the Children, an organization that creates lasting change for children in need. The "Moa's Charity Steed" is available in the item shop at a discounted price of 299 Diamonds, and Frogster will be giving $4.50 to Save the Children for each mount sold.

Players have until Dec. 28 to purchase the mount, so you have plenty of time to buy it and donate to a worthy cause. You can view a screenshot of the mount in our gallery. More information on Save the Children can be found on the organization's official Web site.

Frogster may have revealed the first details of the upcoming Lair of the Demon Dragon 12-player raid dungeon about two weeks ago, but now we have a launch date: Nov. 19. The company announced today that patch 2.1.3 will go live on Thursday with the dungeon, as well as the start of the Autumn Banquet Event and the implementation of the reworked crafting system.

The Autumn Banquet is an in-game Thanksgiving event, while the new crafting interface was created in response to community feedback. You can view six new screenshots from patch 2.1.3 in our gallery.

Runes of Magic developers Runewalker Entertainment participated in an IRC chat yesterday to answer questions from players. It looks like the next expansion may come out in spring 2010, and the team is hoping to speed up the cycle of releasing one chapter every five months with one month of testing by expanding its staff. You can read the full transcript after the jump.

Frogster also revealed some interesting statistics today regarding the actions of players in Runes of Magic since the launch of "Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy" in August. According to the publisher, "adventurers have already solved well over 15 million quests and have overcome more than 250,000 boss opponents in the second chapter. ... Over 16 million items were created by players through cooking, blacksmithing, tailoring, and other in-game crafting methods."

In addition, Frogster announced that a new German server will open tomorrow, Nov. 13, and the game has entered beta testing in Korea in preparation for the live launch.

Frogster has revealed the first details of the Lair of the Demon Dragon, a new 12-player raid dungeon that will be added to Runes of Magic in an upcoming update. It looks like the Naga have captured Gestero, a renegade Flame Dragon, and are using him to supress the free people of Taborea.

Players who choose to face the Naga and Gestero will need to enter Aotulia Volcano and fight wave after wave of heavily armed enemies. You can view some screenshots from the raid dungeon in our gallery and read more about it after the jump.

Patch 2.1.2: Storming of the Acropolis is now live in Runes of Magic and brings with it the opening of the Naga Acropolis in the Aotulia Volcano territory and the start of the Taborean Pumpkin Festival. The update also offers Elven players new elite skills for their dual-class combinations.

In addition, the patch includes minor changes in the interface, new titles and fixes for a few bugs. You can read the full patch notes after the jump.

The Taborean Pumpkin Festival is set to begin in Runes of Magic tomorrow, Oct. 27, so you better get ready to defend yourself against the crazy Halloween fruit for a chance to win special items and titles. Players will need to face Pumpkin Monsters and Demon Pumpkins in the event zone at the Oblivion Shrine.

According to the post, "at the end of each round, those with the most points will be awarded Mad Fire, which can be cashed in for pieces of a special Pumpkin Festival set. The set includes items ranging from transformation drinks to small companions." The festival runs until Nov. 10.

Players still have until Oct. 30 to participate in Frogster's decorations contest and Oct. 28 to submit in-game festive screenshots.

Halloween is a holiday that seems to evoke a general hilarity around MMOs everywhere. Trick or treating can be found from Millenium City to Azeroth, and this includes lands found in the free-to-play MMO, Runes of Magic, as well. But what's revelry without some gift giving? ZAM is proud to present our Evil Pumpkin Head item giveaway, courtesy of the folks at Frogster America.

To receive your very own Evil Pumpkin Head, continue on to our giveaway page, log-in, and snatch up your code!

The second phase of the Runes of Magic Halloween event is under way and involves players submitting festive screenshots for the chance to win an in-game costume. You have until Oct. 28 to send in screenshots of in-game decorations for the costume, house and guild castle categories.

You still have until Oct. 30 to participate in the decorations contest by submitting photos of real-life Halloween decorations that have a Runes of Magic twist. Winners will receive an in-game Halloween decoration item.

The Zurhidon have returned in an attempt to overwhelm Taborea, and it's up to players to push back this evil force. Starting tomorrow, the Zurhidon will attack two European servers every week at 7 p.m. BST. The event runs until Nov. 25, so check the schedule after the jump to see when it will be making an appearance on your server. We've added three screenshots from the event to our gallery.

Also, Frogster has announced that Runes of Magic pre-paid game cards are now available at Target stores throughout the United States. The cards come in $20 increments and can be used in the game's diamond shop to purchase mounts or in-game enhancements.

Patch 2.1.1 is now live on Runes of Magic servers and introduces a new zone, dungeon, cross-server PvP and a holiday event! The Naga-filled Aotulia Volcano zone will help players reach the new level cap of 55, while the high-level "Cave of the Water Dragon" dungeon will require players to capture the dragon Lytfir and put him back to sleep.

Cross-server PvP allows all players on U.S. servers to fight players from other U.S. servers. Frogster has also introduced the Oktober event, which will include more beverages than just beer for the game's younger players. You can read the full 2.1.1 patch notes after the jump.