Runes of Magic open beta turns into stampede.

The open beta for Runes of Magic has opened the doors, and like Oprah on a buffet, the people are charging. Publisher Frogster has announced that over 220,000 registrations were submitted for the beta process, and over 100,000 characters were created in the "first few hours" of the beta opening. Other impressive numbers from the press release:

"In the past few hours Frogster also noted a significant increase in registration numbers. Out of the total number of 220,000 registrations, more than 20,000 Accounts were created on Monday alone and immediately entered the game world: more than 2 million quests were completed in over 200,000 hours of combined playing time in the game world of Taborea. These numbers underline the relevance of quests and immersive background story in the MMORPG developed by Runewaker Entertainment."

In case you haven't kept up to speed, Runes of Magic is the ambitious endeavor attempting to redefine the free to play space with immersive story lines and over a thousand quests. The official release is still set for early 2009 but you can join the tens of thousands already playing it. Curious? Check out the official Runes of Magic website for details.