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Here we are a month after the European launch of The Chronicles of Spellborn, and we find ourselves gearing up for the US and UK launches very soon. What has changed since the EU launch and what have the developers learned throughout the month after launch? MMORPG.com's Patrick S. Marshall takes a look and gives us his opinions on what the game still needs to make it in this hard-knock era for start-up MMOs.

"The bottom line is that the game could use some more players, especially on the international servers, which are considerably less populated than the French or German servers," Marshall says in the article. "The UK is separated from Europe publisher-wise by a territorial IP-ban (Acclaim is publishing TCoS in the US and the UK - Frogster does the rest of Europe and Asia)." For more information on The Chronicles of Spellborn and their upcoming US/UK launch, check out their main website.

If you missed out on the closed beta for Frogster Interactive's Runes of Magic MMO, you may be pleased to hear that they've just announced their open beta to start on December 15th. In addition, Frogster aims to thank their current closed beta testers by holding an in-game event beginning December 7th and ending just before the open beta begins.

Daniel Ullrich, Frogster's Director of Product Management stated in a recent press release that "more than 170,000 registrations from players worldwide shortly before the start of the open beta show us, that we are on the right track with Runes of Magic." The game is set to launch in the first quarter of 2009, and we will be sure to keep Massively readers informed on the game's progress.

Publisher Acclaim Games has finally announced the North American release date of developer Spellborn International's action-oriented MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn. The game will go live in the United States and Canada on the 27th of November -- exactly the same day as the European release. Why Acclaim and European publisher Frogster didn't announce for all regions at once, we're not quite sure!

In the press release we received, Acclaim promised that a North American closed beta will begin soon, and directed would-be players to sign up at the official site. Expect fairly standard MMO gameplay, except for combat, which is a little different. You'll actually have to aim your attacks like you would in a third person shooter game.

Spellborn runs on "Unreal Engine 2.5" and features music by respected video game composer Jesper Kyd, who has contributed scoring to games like Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, and Unreal Tournament 3.

The Chronicles of Spellborn developers Spellborn NV and publisher Frogster have just announced that the eagerly-awaited fantasy MMO will be hit retail release on November 27th, 2008 in Europe. This includes the German, English and French versions of the game. In preparation for this release date, Spellborn has entered into the next phase of closed beta and introduced a large content patch on this last Wednesday, September 17th.

If you've not been following The Chronicles of Spellborn, this would be a good time to see what the game has to offer. Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, the game uses the Unreal Engine to create an "authentic living world" for players to enjoy. Check out their forums for information on the beta and more details on the game's upcoming launch.

Action-oriented MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn has found a publisher in Acclaim Games, the MMO-focused reincarnation of now-defunct Acclaim Entertainment. The company was founded by former Activision CEO Howard Marks, who bought the brand name from the original Acclaim after it crashed and burned in 2004.

David Perry -- Chief Creative Officer of Acclaim Games -- published a letter to the Spellborn community announcing the deal. In it, he talks up the game and the dev team behind it, saying that they immediately stood out to him and the other folks at Acclaim. We'll assume that Acclaim was the company that wrote the letter of intent way back in April, but who can say for sure?

Spellborn had already landed a publishing deal for Europe and Asia with Frogster Interactive. Last we heard the game was due out by the end of 2008, but we're not super-confident about it. Spellborn is still in its closed beta testing phase at the moment.

Frogster, noted European and Asian MMO publisher, has released a flying voidship-load of information about their upcoming MMOs for the European market.

Long awaited fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn is still due out late this year, with open beta to begin in October. We've been following this game closely for some time, but it looks like the rumored US publisher (given their prior relationship, perhaps Aeria Games) is not yet ready to announce North American release dates for the game. The World of Warcraft-ish Asian Import Runes of Magic, newly rescored and tuned toward Western tastes, will enter closed beta in September, for a European release about two months later. Isometric pet-raising, caveman-themed MMO StoneAge 2, already in open beta in North America, will be entering European closed beta in August ahead of a fall release. Next week, Frogster will release more information on its latest MMO, soccer-themed Kickster (formerly Kick Off). And they want us to keep an eye out for an expansion to the Bounty Bay Online pirate MMO.

Assuming you live in Europe, which ones should you particularly keep your eye on? If you bought a Gameboy just to play Pokemon, you might really enjoy StoneAge 2. If a subscription fee is keeping you from playing World of Warcraft, Runes of Magic might just be different enough to get you interested, and it will be free to play. If you liked Age of Conan's innovative combat system but couldn't get into the world of Hyboria, Spellborn's unique setting and combat system combined with its lush visuals might sell you.

Check out screenshots from each of these games in the gallery below.

Runes of Magic, the eerily-similar-to-World of Warcraft Asian import being published in Europe by Frogster and in North America by persons as yet unknown* has just opened beta registration on their shiny new website. Runes of Magic, known as Radiant Arcana in Asia, will be free to play and has super high production values, so heck, why not check it out? Being able to have two jobs at once a la Final Fantasy XI and Guild Wars could be pretty cool, so if you've ever wanted to be a hunter/priest in WoW, well, now you can (except they call their hunters "scouts").

We'll have more about Runes of Magic once beta opens, but you can discuss the game with other eager prospective players in their newly-opened forums. Prize for best question so far: "will the leveling system be like WoW ( few weeks to reach max level) or a shorter leveling system?". Because it took FOREVER to reach max level in WoW when it was released. You know your WoW-like is on the right track when people wonder how to get past the boring stuff to the good stuff at max level before they've even seen the game.

* hey, Frogster, who is going to bring The Chronicles of Spellborn to North America?

What would a high fantasy MMO be without an accompanying orchestral soundtrack? The themes to EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot and so on bring weight and importance to the adventure, and nobody can listen to the theme to the game they loved without having all the memories of close calls and fun times immediately come to mind.

Runes of Magic publisher Frogster has asked renowned German soundtrack composers Dynamedion to compose just such a soundtrack for their upcoming free-to-play fantasy MMO. Managing Director Pierre Langer (pictured) says about the soundtrack, "We see Runes of Magic as an amazing challenge. It is [...] our first Fantasy-MMO, one of our preferred genres." Dynamedion has contributed music to games such as Spellforce, John Woo's Stranglehold, Anno 1701, Drakensang and Die Siedler V & VI, and movies such as 10.000 B.C. and The Bourne Ultimatum.

We've set the pictures from yesterday's peek into the starting zone, to some of the newly-composed music to Runes of Magic, after the break.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in Runes of Magic (AKA Radiant Arcana), Runewaker Entertainment has taken all they loved about Ultima Online and World of Warcraft, combined that with elements from EverQuest, EverQuest II and Final Fantasy XI Online to make a free-to-play MMORPG combining all the elements of both Western and Eastern games. It's like a highly-concentrated booster shot of high fantasy goodness -- and it's free!

Runes of Magic will include a dual class system, where you will choose a primary and a secondary class, armor dying, player housing, crafting, an auction house, unique mounts, a fully customizable user interface and either click-to-move or WASD controls.

The starter zone of Taborea has a deep and rich lore, a colony struggling to stave off the darkness, with your help. You'll need a PDF reader to read that, but we have some of the highlights in our gallery. Can a free-to-play homage to some of the Western world's greatest MMOs succeed on in North America? Distributor Frogster is looking for a US publisher to take that chance.

The game play video from the Chinese open beta (you can find that after the break) shows clearly the developers at Runewaker loved World of Warcraft perhaps more than is really healthy. Still, a free-to-play WoW clone may be exactly what players want, and Runes of Magic may just be different enough to make it interesting.

Runes of Magic is a pretty thorough-sounding MMO coming out of Frogster Interactive Pictures, who also count Chronicles of Spellborn as one of their properties. According to the website, the list of features is fairly comprehensive, and we've included it after the jump. Frogster (which, by the way, is the greatest company name ever) was also nice enough to provide a ton of screenshots and concept art -- and it certainly looks pretty.

We can't fault Frogster for planning ahead: A recent press release states that the launch is planned for " ... before Christmas 2008. The English version will be released soon afterwards." You know, it's been a while since we've used the term "WoW Killer" -- with this list of features, at least on paper Runes of Magic could be the next contender!


[Thanks, Axel!]

High seas sailing Bounty Bay Online just recently began releasing their client free of charge, and dropped a brand new island into the Atlantic. Developer Frogster is still changing things up, with the announcement that they're opening a brand new free-to-play server for the game. Despite the free client, the older servers require a subscription fee, and have no microtransaction component. This new game shard, named the "Mary Read", will require no regular fee and offers players several unique items via an in-game item store.

The store charges 3 cents and upwards for a variety of items, including potions, figureheads, and treasure maps. Players can buy points, which they can then exchange for in-game items. They are also selling items that will boost your level and character power, allowing you to purchase your way to a level of power comparable with your friends. BBO players on the older "William Blight" server should remain unaffected by this new game addition; items bought in the store are only available on Mary Read.

Seems like just yesterday we were wondering if The Chronicles of Spellborn would ever see US shores. Some kind spirit must have heard us, for today comes news that a US publisher has signed a letter of intent to publish this rather unique fantasy MMO on this side of the Atlantic. Spellborn International and its European/Asian publisher, Frogster, have decided to push the release date of the game from Q2 '08 (ie, Real Soon) to Q3 '08 (ie, when Warhammer Online and the new World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, ship). The reason given for the delay is polish and time for the US publisher to work on marketing the game. Polish. That used to be such a kind word. Polished games are nice, but "fun" is an even better one.

Given the rather empty looking world they have been showing us, this extra time should certainly allow them to jam it full of goodness. With any luck at all, we'll be flying through the Deadspell Storm in our golden shardships, on our way to represent our Houses in Parliament. Now that it appears we'll be seeing this game in North America after all, what better time to learn more about the world of Spellborn through the Spellborn Scrolls? The Scrolls are an interactive text adventure that introduces you to the people and places of the game and is a pretty darn unique way to get the feel for the lore.

[Thanks, Garold!]

The Chronicles of Spellborn beta testers keep teasing us with these wonderful screenshots! We haven't seen an MMO with such a unique and evocative style since Lord of the Rings Online. This week brings us pictures from the city of Quarterstone, "the jewel of Spellborn". Quarterstone sits beneath massive holes that allow in the light of the Deadspell Storm, and around which cyclones rage. Despite the turmoil outside, Quarterstone seems fairly peaceful -- the real danger there are the battles between the great Houses.

Chronicles of Spellborn is due out "Q2 2008". Despite rumors of financial difficulties, a perceived lack of commitment by Central European and Asian publishing partner Frogster International, and no announced publishers in Britain or North America, Community Manager "Papillon" vows that if they run out of money, they will put what they have on the market and try to find a way forward from there (even if that means working for free!). We're rooting for you, Spellborn, and we loved what we saw of the game at GDC.

Updated: The struck-out text was based on a bad translation of a quote from the German section of the Spellborn forums. And in fact, the meaning was entirely opposite. We regret the error, won't be using dodgy automatic translation services in the future!

According to Papillon, the correct translation was: "And to even more emphasize that we do NOT intend to release Spellborn in a hurry, I finished in joking about "I think this development team would even work for free to make the dream become reality :) (PSSST! That stays between us! ;) Don't let my Boss know about this!)".

I think it's clear they meant something entirely different! /heads back to the English side of the forums...