While we wait for the full launch of Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy on Sept. 15, the Runes of Magic team has brought the namesake of the first chaper, Rise of the Demon Lord, into the game for the first time. Frogster announced today the current content update, Naga's Awakening, lets players fight the Demon Lord in a public encounter that takes place in a nightmare version of the city of Varanas.

You won't need to be in a party to enter this instance, but grouping is recommended for the difficult fight. According to the announcement, "up to 150 players can simultaneously combat the terrible dream and fight to stop the Demon Lord." This battle is currently the toughest obstacle to overcome in Runes of Magic, so you can expect some big rewards if you can take down the boss.

For more information on the fight itself, check out the full announcement below. You can also view some screenshots from the "Varanas Nightmare" encounter in our gallery.

It was announced today that the Penny Arcade Expo has completely sold out, but gamers who were lucky enough to already get their badges have a ton of MMO excitement waiting for them in Seattle from Sept. 4-6, or you can keep an eye on ZAM.com for all our PAX news.

We've already reported there will be a playable Star Trek Online demo on the floor and CCP will showcase EVE Online at the convention, but that's only a taste of what's in store at this year's expo. Keep reading after the jump for just some of the other games you can expect to see on the floor at PAX 2009.

Patch 1.9, Naga's Awakening, launched today in Runes of Magic. The update gives players a preview of the upcoming Elven Prophecy expansion by adding the new Weeping Coast region and increasing the level cap to 52. In addition, the patch includes the new high-end underwater "Heart of the Ocean" instance and adds more than 200 new quests. You can read the full patch notes after the jump.

Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy will be released on Sept. 15. The expansion will introduce elves as a playable race, add two new character classes, raise the level cap to 55, integrate a new pet system, and include a completely new soundtrack.

More and more goodies seem to be coming out of GamesCom, and just a short while ago they released a bunch of new screenshots for you all to check out. Just follow along to here to see our gallery of freshly updated images. Personally speaking, I like this one the best. Also, if you haven't heard, Runewaker and Frogster, the team that is currently developing and publishing Runes of Magic, have also signed a contract at GamesCom confirming the release of a brand new MMORPG for the end of 2013.

It seems as though Frogster and Runewaker, publishers and developers of the critically acclaimed MMO 'Runes of Magic,' are teaming up once again to develop another new MMO scheduled to be released near the end of 2013. In fact, it was just today at GamesCom that the duo announced the contract being signed. After the success of Runes of Magic, Runewaker has increased their team to over 100 staff members, and an additional 100 members will be hired to develop their latest MMO title. In addition to this, Runewaker plans to continue to work on regular expansions for Runes of Magic, as they've managed to garner over 1.6 million registered and over 300,000 active users - only a few months after their official launch! John and Tony Tang of Runewaker Entertainment noted that the partnership formed "because of the very positive and successful collaboration in publishing, producing and game design for Runes of Magic." Although they (understandably) point out the fact that they "can’t really reveal much about [their] new online role-playing world now," they do confidently state that "it will surpass current game worlds in many aspects."

Frogster recently announced the final content for "Chapter II — The Elven Prophecy" will launch on Sept. 15, while some parts of the expansion are actually set to go live this month. Well, the team has decided that the GamesCom trade fair, which kicks off in Germany tomorrow, is the perfect time to premiere the official launch trailer for the game's second chapter.

You can view the full trailer after the jump. The expansion will introduce elves as a playable race, add two new character classes, raise the level cap to 55, integrate a new pet system, and include a completely new soundtrack.

Back in June during E3, Frogster said "Chapter II — The Elven Prophecy" will launch in September, with some content from the expansion being integrated this month. Well, Frogster announced today the final content for the second chapter will be released on Sept. 15. On the same day, a boxed version will be available in German, French and Spanish stores that includes collector's items such as a Manticore pet and a time-limited Thunder Wartiger mount.

The Elven Prophecy will introduce elves as a playable race, add two new character classes, raise the level cap to 55, integrate a new pet system, and include a completely new soundtrack. This month, Frogster will add the new "Weeping Coast" region and raise the level cap to 52.

You can read the full announcement about the Chapter II launch date below.

This news comes a little bit late, but apparently Frogster announced that, in celebration of opening their latest PvP server, Indigo, they will be having a two-part contest for players who re-roll on this newest server addition. The first phase, running until 12:01 am. PST. August 31st, will be a leveling competition to determine who can reach the level cap of 50/50 in the shortest amount of time. Frogster notes that they will also establish a leaderboard to show the rankings for the top 15 players. Near August 22nd, the team will also announce phase two of the competition, but for now, they're keeping silent on the specifications of phase two. The top 10 finalists in this competition will be earning themselves a top-of-the-line Alienware gaming laptop, so this certainly isn't a contest to be taken lightly!

More information can be found here.

Do you want to earn diamonds in Runes of Magic without having to pay for them? Well, it was announced today that Frogster America has partnered with Peanut Labs Media to monetize diamonds in the free-to-play MMO. According to its Web site, "Peanut Labs Media is a social monetization company focusing on monetizing the new digital economy around virtual goods and currencies through global payments, surveys and offers."

What does this mean exactly? Basically, Runes of Magic players will be able to complete short market research surveys to earn virtual currency. Peanut Labs' other partners include Acclaim, Facebook WeeWorld, Meez.com and ijji.com. The full announcement regarding the company's partnership with Frogster can be found after the jump.

In addition, Frogster is offering free bonus diamonds for every diamond purchase you make in Runes of Magic until Friday at 8 a.m. PDT. You can read more about the offer here.

Today is the day for Runes of Magic fans who want to play the game in Spanish or French! Frogster has announced that Runes of Magic will be entering open beta for the Spanish and French versions of the game. Players can register on the official Spanish website, or the official French website, and that's all that is needed to get into these newly localized open betas. The team also notes that there will be no character wipe after the open beta test phase is over, so here's your chance to check out Runes of Magic in Spanish or French! Runes of Magic is a free to play MMO from Taiwanese developer Runewaker.