f13.net forums - Beta 2 invites are out...EDIT and now with release notes!

So I would imagine that y'all are all reading them and DLing the megainstall right now.

ETA

Here's the release notes

Quote

Release Notes: January 16, 2007
These changes and fixes will be available in the January 16th update to the game. Known Issues are still forthcoming!

Of Special Note

* The Dread aura sound fx has been disabled, and the visual effects have been significantly changed by popular demand.
* The first iteration of the music system has arrived!
o All players will be able to learn one musical instrument passive skill from their trainer, and Minstrels can learn to play any instrument.
o With a musical instrument equipped to the ranged slot (they can be purchased from Bards, or crafted with new Woodworking recipes) type “/music” to begin playing.
o Your number shortcuts now correspond to musical notes, and you can start jamming away!
o For those that tire of hearing your minstrel friend plucking out that riff from “Stairway to Valinor”, there are options to disable other players’ music.
* Introducing Adoption!
Players now have the ability to adopt other players! With the use of the /adopt command, you too can adopt a player of your very own!

o A player can set their generation via the Bio page in the Character Journal. Generations range from 1 to 20, one being the eldest generation, twenty being the youngest.
o A Player can have up to two adopted children.
o Adopting a child grants titles to both the parent and the child (Elrond, Father of Arwen / Arwen, Daughter of Elrond. Please note that Dwarves are referred to as Father and Son).
o A player can only adopt a player of a younger generation than they are. This means that Generation 1 players can never have a parent, and Generation 20 players can never have children.
o Generation can only be changed when no relationships exist.
o Relationships can be terminated by visiting a Notary.
o Terminating a relationship revokes all titles associated with the relationship.

* Dueling is now known as sparring, and several changes have been made. See the Gameplay section for details.
* All major instances (Great Barrows Major, Garth Agarwen, Fornost, Urugarth, and Carn Dum) have had major updates and changes to them, so expect them to play differently.
* Smoking has been added to the game:
o When you /smoke, you now pull out a pipe and smoke.
o When you /smoke1 you cough on your pipe smoke.
o Pipeweed items now put you into a smoking induction, which ends with you blowing a smoke-ring shape. Placeholders currently used for the shapes; full fx to come later.
* Elves are in tune with nature and do not scare off critters. Likewise, they revere the natural world and have no great bloodlust to kill the natural fauna of middle-earth. As such, Elves cannot bring themselves to kill most of these unthreatening critters (with some exceptions, such as for sickly creatures).

Gameplay

* Sparring
o Players can now spar by doing a /spar (but /duel is still around).
o You can ignore sparring requests and disable the ability to spar by toggling these options in the Options menu.
o Players will no longer take an item wear penalty from being defeated by another player when sparring.
o Players can no longer spar in the Shire, the town of Bree, and in Rivendell.
* Potions can be used in combat, on a 2 minute recharge.
* Some creatures in the world are now wary of the coordinated attacks of your Fellowship, preventing you from attempting them too often (Conjunction attempt frequency on a single opponent may be limited).
* Fixed a bug that was causing monsters to fail to attack targets at times, they would reset and heal to full instead.
* Fixed a rare bug that was leaving characters permanently unable to move and/or parry, evade and block.
* Burglars have been taught how to accept items they win from loot rolls a little more graciously. They will no longer celebrate so loudly that they lose stealth when they do.
* The Burglar has access to three class items: Marbles, Stun Dust, and Caltrops. Previously, they shared a cooldown timer of 5 minutes. Now they have three separate but longer cooldown timers. This is to encourage Burglars to use a variety of these items while also limiting excessive reuse of a single type of item (I'm looking at you, Marbles!). Also, the Caltrops item has been changed to become AOE. Now it will apply its effects to the target and several other enemies nearby.

Skills

* The Guardian's “Warrior's Heart” Max Morale Buff now lasts for 1 minute.
* The Guardian now obtains “Guardian's Promise” at level 38
o This skill allows the Guardian to create an acorn whistle they can give to a fellow. The fellow can use the whistle to call the Guardian to them if needed.
* The Champion has a new skill, “Merciful Strike,” available at level 24
o This skill can be used on a target with less than 10% health. It does a large chunk of damage and generates 2 fervour.
* The Champion has a new skill, “Fighting Dirty,” available at level 26
o This skill can be used on a target which has less than 25% health. It does damage along the lines of “Wild Attack,” and puts a buff on the Champion for 30 seconds which increases the damage of the Champion's next AOE attack by 25%. Using an AOE skill removes the effect.
* The Champion gets a new cosmetic skill at level 40, “Boast,” which is for entertainment purposes only.
* “Hamstring” & “Hedge” have been moved to level 36 & 38, respectively.
* “Savage Strikes” still takes 3 fervour to use, but only removes 2 fervour on use.
* “Brutal Strikes” still takes 4 fervour to use, but only removes 3 fervour on use.
* The window of opportunity for players to use their defeat response skills has been increased slightly.
* “Devastating Blow” now applies a Defeat Combat Event on a successful critical.
* “Devastating Blow” and “Pressing Attack” now dispel a Captain’s Battle-Readied State regardless of whether or not they connect.
* Captain Heralds have had their DPS and damage mitigation reduced.
* “Words of Courage” can no longer be used on yourself
* “Words of Courage” and “Rallying Cry” can now be used to heal NPCs.
* Captain Marks now cost 5% of your maximum Power, as opposed to a flat number.
* Captains have a new skill, “Command: Focus” available to them at level 38.
* Captains have a new skill, “Command: Respect” available to them at level 40 (this is purely a cosmetic skill, but does, indeed, command respect).
* Captains can now train the following skills at the following levels: Call to Arms: Herald (lvl 10), Pressing Attack (lvl 12), and Words of Courage (lvl 14).
* “Enraged Shout” has been renamed to “Battle Shout.”
* The buff from “Cry of Vengeance” has been shortened to 20 seconds.
* Heralds summoned to Captains with the "Captain's Hope" Trait will now add 1 point of Hope to those around them, in addition to their previous effects.
* Burning Embers doesn't enable auto-attack by default, since it generated confusion with an out-of-range melee auto-attack. So expert Lore-masters, don't forget to enable your auto-attack if you want to swing the minute a create comes into range from a Burning Embers pull.
* "Track Mines" & "Track Wood" skills are now correctly listed under the Ability Skills category rather than Buff Skills.
* Two new skills for the Hunter: "Cry of the Predator" @ Level 12 & "Camouflage" @ Level 40
o Cry of the Predator - "You mimic the cry of a predatory animal, causing beasts to run in fear."
o Camouflage - "You have the ability to blend into your surroundings, making it difficult for your foes to detect you so long as you remain still."
* The skill formerly known as "Guide Home" has become "Desperate Flight"
o It is a self-only escape skill useable in combat on a 10 minute recovery timer, taking you to a nearby Rally Point.
* Tweaked the induction reductions from "Needful Haste" and the trait "Fast Draw"
o Needful Haste and Fast Draw’s reduction became an additive modifier (was multiplicative)
o Duration of the Needful Haste buff was increased to 30 seconds
o Line Bonus of the “Precision” line of traits became a stacking reduction of bow shot induction
o Line Bonus of the “General” trait line became a stacking 1% bonus to ranged critical chance
* Changed some of the levels when skills are granted.
* After the advent of a ranged auto-attack, part of Quick Shot's utility as a fast bow shot was eclipsed. In light of this, Stances will now slightly enhance the behavior of Quick Shot (in addition to its damage and +1 focus). Each Stance has a different effect on the skill, appropriate to the theme of the stance:
o Strength - Quick Shot also applies Slow Movement debuff
o Precision - Quick Shot has an increased chance to Critical
o Endurance - Quick Shot acts as a Detaunt

Traits/Accomplishments

* There are now accomplishments for slaying all the named Chieftains and Tyrants within the Ettenmoors.
* Othrikar should now have a discoverable map note.
* You will now see your current progress towards an accomplishment in a tooltip over the progress bar.
* The "Swift Recovery" trait now reduces the recovery timer of both Needful Haste and Intent Concentration.
* Fixed a bug where the Burglar's Trait: “Cunning Wound” would stop his from-stealth damage-over-time from stacking with his out-of-stealth damage-over-time. Now they can both be on the same target at once.

Monster Play

* You are no longer able to execute conjunctions on players or monster players. This should balance out player vs. monster player battles.
* Monster players should now all properly play their death animations.
* Monster player Appearance Traits now properly advance the look of the monster avatar.
* Monster play Uruk Blackarrows now use 1-handed weapons & Bows.
* Players can no longer make monster player names with illegal characters in them, e.g. +Monster.

User Interface

* There is now a "Remove" button on the Friends/Ignore UIs to remove players from their respective lists. Right-clicking on the name of the player in the UI still works.
* The "Show locked items" option is now found in the UI options page rather than the Vendor Sell tab. The state of this option is also saved for future visits to the vendor.
* We fixed the situations in which the checkbox for enabling LFG/LFP was not properly disabled based on the player's fellowship status.
* The "Note" button and field have been removed from the Who panel.
* Added new option, "Enable skill target forwarding.” When this is enabled, you’ll attempt to execute your skill on your target's target if your original target isn't valid; e.g. healing a monster that is attacking a Fellowship member will redirect to that Fellow instead.
* Made adjustments to auto-attack to reduce the likelihood of unintended attacks pulling adds.
* The map home recovery time now counts down while you are logged out.
* Recovery timers on player skills will countdown even when your character is logged-off.
* In an effort to lock down the default keymap, we've made the following changes:
o Changed:
+ Assist has been moved from "G" to "F"
+ Crafting panel activation was changed from "F" to "T"
o Removed:
+ Select next item has been removed (was "Ctrl+Tab")
+ Select previous item has been removed (was "Alt+Tab")
+ Select last selection has been removed (was "[")
+ Select last attacker has been removed (was "]")
+ Titles tab on the character journal has been removed (was "T")
+ Toggling the radar has been removed (was "R")
+ Social panel activation was removed from "Ctrl+s" - it still remains on "O"
o Added:
+ Select Nearest PC has been added to "Ctrl+Tab"
+ Take Screenshot has been added to "PrntScn"
+ Reply to last teller has been added to "R"
+ Voice chat "push to talk" has been added to "Z"

Note: For removed keys, it's still possible to remap the keys, we've just removed the default mappings.

* You can remap your player music keys.
* There's a new Troubleshooting panel on the Options UI to help with overheating video cards, framerate, and connection issues.
* Some mapnotes were showing when there was nothing there. These have been removed, so some vendors and milestones now appear only when and where they should.
* You can now enter the game by double-clicking on the desired character name on the list in the character selection screen.
* Quickslots with nothing in them will no longer block clicks.
* When mapnotes are selected and unselected, the highlighting is removed.
* The "Default UI" button works correctly on the UI Settings options.
* The progress bar will reappear after moving it with ctrl-\
* If a travel destination is valid for you, double-clicking it in the travel list will take you there.
* We've removed the ability for users to specify HTML style text tags from the text entry window.
* Vendor panels have rollover states for items.
* The Options panel now works consistently during Character Generation.
* Your conjunction skills can be mapped to keystrokes in the Options UI.
* Fixed a problem where you couldn't see the quantity of an item attached to a letter.
* Comparison tooltips now show the same information as regular tooltips.
* Tooltips will no longer show the value of an object if that value is zero.
* Fixed a bug with “Vexing Blow” that caused its tooltip not to display.
* The Durability Rating element on the examination tooltip now reads "Durability: Normal” instead of just "Normal." Yes, this was highly confusing to us as well.
* Fixed a problem where using previous/next item keys (like delete) would select items in your own inventory. It will now only find objects in the world.
* If you are not the leader, you can now see the loot rules for your current fellowship by right clicking on your portrait (just like if you were the leader, and were changing the loot rules).
* Fixed a problem with the keymaps where the default keymap would be layered on top of the saved keymap every time the player logged in.
* Fixed a bug where the pet quickslot bar would always show, even if you turned it off.
* Player portraits and target portraits can now be disabled to improve performance. They will automatically be disabled on Very Low and Low graphics levels.
* Fixed a bug that caused the "Make Active" button to not have its delightful, button-esque background.
* Examination tooltips will now always appear where you choose - either in the static tooltip position (which can be moved), or near your mouse.
* When viewing your skills panel, only quickslot bars that have a key mapped to them will appear now.
* If you attempt to complete a quest that has a selectable reward and don't pick one, you receive a dialog. That dialog will now automagically close if you walk too far away from the NPC you were talking to. (Don't worry, you can still get your item).
* Fixed some of the hitching when changing options relating to the quickslot bars.
* Expanded the size of the entries in the accomplishment panel to be able to fit more text, without resorting to adding an ellipsis.
* Items now have cooldown info in their tooltips.
o Channeling skills show their maximum duration in tooltips.
o Buffs and debuff effects now show their duration in tooltips.
* When you close the bard's window with no changes, it no longer asks you to confirm.
* Skill recovery time is now "live" and counts down in tooltips.
* You'll now get a stern warning if you try to slot a trait when you've got no available slots.
* Instant morale- and power-changing items now show their effect in their tooltips.
* The mood display now shows the effects your overall mood has on you.
* We’ve added new tutorial hints for enabling voice chat and for the microphone test.
* Block percentage in the character panel now shows N/A when the player is not using a shield.
* Parry percentage in the character panel now shows N/A when the player is not using any weapons.
* Players can now rename their pet via the Context Sensitive Menu, available by right-clicking the pet vitals under their own.
* Players can now right-click and double-click to attack in monster play and sparring.

Auction System

* Mail coming from the Auction Hall is now addressed from the "Guild of Trade"
* The Search button on the Auction UI should be more responsive when searching through categories.
* The Auction UI now displays how many pages have been returned from a search.
* It is now possible to unselect a search category in the Auction UI by clicking on it a second time.
* Solicitors are now known as Auctioneers.
* Added a Dye search category to the Auction UI, and removed the Two-handed Mace category.

Crafting

* Artisan Craft Vendors are open for business! They can be found stationed at their associated Superior Craft Facilities.
* Adjusted the modifiers for all craftable Crafting Tools.
o Smithing Hammer, Woodworking Tools, Cooking Supplies, Scholar's Glass, Jeweller's Tools, and Tailor's Tools: Crafted versions of these tools will provide higher critical success chances for recipes the user executes. In general, better tools will have increased critical success chances.
o Mining Pick, Farming Tools, and Forester's Axe: Crafted versions of these tools will provide reduced induction times. In general, better tools will have lower induction times.
* Crafted uncommon (or better) shields, weapons, & clothing now have magical enhancements.
* Increased the drop rate on fragments used by scholars.
* Craft tools that decrease the mining/farming/wood harvesting times are working again.
* Craft items used for recipes and once sold at the Provisioner are now sold at the craft trainer specific to the recipe. For example, items used for cooking are sold at the Novice and Expert Cooks.
* Trophy drops:
o Added "This hide can be turned into leather using the Forestry profession." to the descriptions on all craftable hides.
o Added "This item can be used in crafting." to the descriptions on all trophy drops that can be used as optional ingredients.
o Added "This item is used in crafting." to the descriptions on all trophy drops that are used as required ingredients in many newer recipes.
* Fixed typos in "Vegetable Medley" and "Superior Vegetable Medley." (Note: 4 out of 4 LOTRO developers agree that "Medley," not "Medly," is the wave of the vegetable-mixing future.)
* Recipes that are unique to crafting quests can only be executed once. The recipe will be removed from the recipe list in the crafting UI after it has been used.
* Replaced the word "armor" with "armour" for all crafted light, medium, and heavy armor pieces. Replaced the word "armor" with "armour" for all metalworking and tailoring armor recipes.
* Jeweller:
o Corrected a typo for "Major Rune of Striking"
o Fixed icons for "Ruby," "Sapphire," "Polished Ruby," and "Polished Sapphire."
o Crafted Star-glass potions and crafted critical Star-glass potions were previously identical. Critical Star-glass potions now have double the duration of normal Star-glass potions.
* Tailor: “Fine Linen Boots Recipe" has been given the correct name of “Fine Linen Leggings Recipe."
* Scholar:
o Battle Lore: Orcs, Trolls, and Undead scrolls have been removed from the Scholar profession and are no longer available for craft or use.
o Scholars can now craft fire and light oils, which are useable by the Hunter class.
* Farmer:
o Onion Skins can now be found when farming Green Onion fields.
o Increased the value of "fair" pipe-weed plants across all tiers, and corrected the values of some intermediate pipe-weed ingredients.
* Cook:
o "Superior" foods will now remain superior when stacked!
o Recipe scroll icons have been updated! Each profession now has a unique scroll icon.
o Numerous cooking ingredients are now found on the landscape. Go out and pick yourself some strawberries (or cabbage) today!
* Forester:
o Changed the induction bar to read "Working..." when performing skills or executing forestry recipes.
* Woodworker
o Corrected the ingredients for some tier 4 woodworking recipes.

Items

* Many NPCs throughout the world now sell food items. Ask about franchises opportunities!
* Drop rates on legendary accomplishment books have been reduced.
* Dyes can no longer be applied to leather and metal helmets, as they do not have dye-maps yet.
* Trainers now sell some basic class items.
* Food of appropriate levels can now be found as loot.
* Players are no longer getting mitigation for damage other than Common from their armor. Fear the shadow and the flame.
* Most weapons, magical and non-magical, have intrinsic abilities as follows:
o Dagger: Increase critical hit chance, decreased overall damage-per-second
o Sword (1-Handed): Increase to critical hit chance
o Mace: Small chance of stunning
o Club (1-Handed): Small chance of stunning
o Axe (1-Handed): Chance to Armor rend, to-hit penalty.
o Hammer (1-Handed): Small chance of stunning
o Spear: Small Bleed
o Sword (2-Handed): Increase to critical hit chance
o Club (2-Handed): Small chance of stunning
o Axe (2-Handed): Chance to Armor rend, to-hit penalty.
o Hammer (2-Handed): Small chance of stunning
o Halberd: Small Threat Add
o Bow: Increase to critical hit chance during auto-attack
o Crossbow: Decrease block chance during auto-attack
* Non-chest containers, such as cocoons, no longer generate food items. Yuck!
* Common axes and two-handed axes use new artwork to make the items look more generic.
* Equipment vendors in Esteldin now sell items in the level 25 to 40 range.
* Neekerbreeker Ichor is now named correctly.
* Basic versions of food are for sale at the Provisioner.

Kinships

* “Accept kinship requests" should now actually honor the choice a player makes.
* /who now updates when a kinship is disbanded.
* Floaty text on players should now immediately reflect if they are in your kinship or not.
* We fixed some cases where kinship charters would be destroyed even when the kinship failed to be created or re-themed.

Character Creation

* Dwarves are no longer specifically called "Male" in character generation.

Graphics/Animation/fx

* Musical instruments got their icons!
* No more randomized appearances when you switch nationalities in chargen. However, colors may change because we hold the position of the selection in the color palette while the palette itself changes beneath.
* The Lore-master's Herb-Lore Root fx will now remove correctly when the associated effect ends.
* Many monsters will now collapse (instead of standing, then collapsing again) if defeated while in the knockdown state.
* All avatar emotes will start from the correct position.

Audio

* The corpse of Haerandir now makes the same sound as looting any other type of corpse.
* Non-chest containers should no longer play the "open chest" sound when used.
* Full footstep pass:
o Added new sounds for Wood, Metal, Ice, Rug, Snow, Mud, water, and wading water.
o Added surface sound textures to mount footsteps.
o You now make a splash when jumping into deep water.
o NPC footsteps won't be heard so far away.

World

* Visual improvement to doors: Most doors have had a major aesthetic update. Instead of a “black plane,” doors now have a scene placed into the frame of the door to help improve the sense of contiguity. This will continue to improve as all doors are upgraded.
* Some little-known characters have been spotted in Rivendell recently: two mischievous hobbits, apparently a Took and a Brandybuck, and some daughter of Elrond's.
* The Worm Cave in Western Malenhad, the area formerly known as Western Thorenhad, has had its lighting and deco reworked.
* Mistpaw, Willian Redcastle, Yellowtusk, and other Rare encounters across Breeland are now generating at the correct frequencies (sorry – no more getting rolled by Yellowtusk every 15 seconds).
* Tarkrip Goblins can no longer be found in Eastern Malenhad.
* Landscape-spawning dye plants (woad, indigo and yarrow) now look like plants.
* Many of Esteldin's vendors have been removed, and their inventories merged with those of the remaining vendors.
* The central North Downs rally point has been moved from Esteldin to Gatson’s Farm (wouldn’t want to Eye of Sauron taking notice of the “hidden city” now would we?)
* Dwalin now has a proper throne to sit upon whilst being kingly and such.
* Many doors from the landscape into interior spaces have been given more appropriate names than "Door," so you should now generally know where you are going when you go through a door.
* Some combat-capable town and outpost guards have been placed in various locations in Ered Luin.
* The "traders" in Othrikar now sell supplies and can repair items.
* The level 21-26 lynxes in western Nain Enidh (do you know how to pronounce that? I don't.) in the Lonelands have been reduced in level to match the strength of the other monsters in the area.
* Fixed text errors in Gondamon color NPC's.
* The Foraging brown-bear is now the correct color… you’ll never guess... brown!
* Bounders no longer have military uniforms and wear their Bounder hats with pride.
* Rivendell’s interior has been given color NPC's.
* Monster names will no longer show their subspecies unless they have a proper name.
* A ring will no longer appear over the door near Thorin's Hall in the starter instance.
* The festival area north of Bree has been given color NPCs and a vendor.
* Players may now find the Bard in Thorin's Hall to reside on the first floor, not in the Tavern.

Travel/Maps/Radar

* Saeradan's Cabin now has a dungeon map.
* If you are looking at your map panel and are incapacitated, your map panel will close. Pay attention next time!
* You can no longer use milestones until you leave the newbie area.
* Stablemaster at Thorin's Hall will only be available after the starter and newbie instances are completed.
* The map of the Etten Caves in the North Downs should now appear correctly
* The Shire-to-Ered Luin horse travel route now goes through Needlehole, not Michel Delving
* Players may now travel more swiftly between capital cities
* Updated the horse quests so you can ride one of each horse before you get your riding skill, and turned the ponies into ponies.

Miscellaneous

* Healers can now be found throughout the world at most major towns.
* The NPC Kekkonen is no longer in a T-pose.
* William Redcastle is a sad brigand. He's been mugged so many times he no longer has anything more to give out! (In other words, the drop rates for uncommon/rare items reduced greatly).
* The price for mounts has been reduced! Let the common man (or dwarf or elf or hobbit) ride!
* You can no longer pick up or equip/unequip items when you're incapacitated. Shame on you for trying!
* You can now type /mood_calm to reset your mood to the default.
* Rest system fixed to slow down rate of rest accrual.

Quests

General:

* We did a massive quest item naming pass.
* Great Barrow boss monsters now drop special items.
* Sun-touched Eagles were an ornery bunch; so much so that they hated even their closest allies. They've been reminded of their caring and love for the Free Peoples and their allied races.
* If you didn’t have names turned on in previous builds and you didn’t select the name of Grimwood Saplings, Logs, or Timber you couldn’t collect the treasures within. We have fixed the issue by applying a new version to the items found in the wild.
* There were some orcs who disregarded physical objects in the world at the area surrounding Tol Ascarnen. These reality deviants have been found guilty of crimes and banished from this reality.
* Robin Smallburrow decided to go into the Ivy Bush for a pint. You should now find him and all quest text pointing to him at his new location.
* “Crafting Solutions” quests added to the Shire and throughout Ered Luin.
* The items involved in the crafting quests are no longer placeholderiffic. Their permanence brings joy to the masses.

Specific quests:

* Quest items in “The Trophies of War” are now collected properly at the end of the quest.
* There were two Ethelinda Burrs around Staddle. She is now located only in the town.
* Deleted the North Downs quest “Taken to Wing,” as it was essentially identical to another nearby quest.
* A new instance will now be created for you if you have left the encounter "The Defence of Trestlebridge."
* Tweaked the end of the “Free The Tree” escort quest a little so the Walking Tree speeds up before finding a place to despawn.
* Replaced the "black" rock for the Haunted Alley with one that is unmistakably, well… black!
* The quest “Ruins of Arthedain” can now also begin in Halbarad's study, not just in the Esteldin library.
* The quests “Boar-tooth Dagger,” “Lynx-hide Cloak,” “A Superior Lynx-hide Cloak,” and “Bear-hide Armour” are now completeable with certain vendors around Rivendell.
* “Rangers and Rogues” quest objective text now tells you what kinds of brigands you should be looking for.
* Lalia will no longer get stuck on the road after she is rescued.
* Planted more hillborn woad for the “Symbol of Hope” quest in Rhunenlad.
* Specified Wargs to kill for “Raising Wargs' Ire,” and increased the challenge level to match the wolves' level.
* The North Downs quest “Warg-master” has been marked as recommended for fellowships.
* The Shire quest “Sheep Theft” has been revamped with upgraded rewards and less annoying foes. The sheep herself has been on a few quests and has leveled up to "signature" status.
* The number of required troves for the North Downs quest “Esteldin's Preparation” has been reduced from 8 to 6.
* In the North Downs quest “Oathbreakers,” we have reduced the number of friends available to the Oathbreaker-captain.
* For “A Daring Rescue” and “A Deal Gone Sour,” Leofwenna and Pengail's stats have been beefed up a little to make them more survivable.
* The bees in the Old Sally quest have been replaced by shrews; clearly the bees weren't annoying enough, and sometimes Sally could just ignore them. But nothing is more annoying than shrews.
* Captain-General Lainedhel was AWOL from Ost Ringdyr. A Dwarven First Marshal informed us, under promise of anonymity, that the Elven Captain-General was off hugging a tree or something. Regardless, the Captain-General is at his post now.
* Quartermaster Ash now appears within the confines of Glân Vraig. His quest still has an issue where it can only be completed once. Give him a little longer and he’ll provide rewards.
* Darktide wolves are now aggressive to Angmar’s army and the Free People alike.
* Reward chests for players have been placed at Glân Vraig to taunt the players.
* There was a visual display issue with one of the elf lieutenants at Tol Ascarnen. She appeared as a two-headed monstrosity. This was fixed.
* Tyrant Barashish, Tyrant Trintrú, and Tyrant Tharbil no longer include Placeholder text.
* Captain-General Makan of Tol Ascarnen now properly displays the correct target of Captain-General Makan.
* Bestowal of the quest to obtain First Marshal marks has been fixed.
* First Marshal marks are no longer called Captains’ marks. They now reflect the First Marshal moniker.
* A typo in the quest “Captain-General Makan of Tol Ascarnen” has been fixed.
* Added a new objective to the end of “The Ailing Hound” where you speak with Longo Daegmund again.
* “The Thickest of Skins, Part I” now sends you to a location in Breeland instead of the dangerous heart of the North Downs. You're welcome!
* “Blackwold Valuables” will be bestowed at the right time now, rather than too early.
* Slade Ransford should now have a sword when he fights during “A Champion's Courage.”
* Fixed an issue with the defeat information for “Beneath the Greenfields” so players will respawn in the correct location.
* The rabbit holes on the Greenfields now have a description.
* Completing the “Life of a Bounder” accomplishment series will now unlock a new quest containing additional rewards. See a Bounder for instructions!
* Fixed an issue where it was possible to become stuck in the Archet Raid or in Skorgrim's Tomb.
* Stone-trolls in the Bruinen Gorges will now satisfy the “Very Unlike Trolls” quest.
* The boss fight at the end of the "Unravelling the Thread" instance has been reworked to be much more reliable.

Monster play quests:

* Monster Players trying to find food sacks from those little Rat-folk were finding a difficult chore ahead of them. We made it a bit easier by placing the Rat-folks’ food in their village. (Who are the Rat-folk? Try out Monster Play by visiting the Scrying Pool in Beggar's Alley Bree-town.)
* There were guards at Lugazag and Tirith Rhaw that believed they were on duty with spears. We didn't know how to tell these poor guys that there were no spears incoming to the Ettenmoors. We decided to just tell them to relax. We feel better about this.
* Monster Players entering the Ettenmoors for the first time could see one NPC with 10 quests available. We thought this was a bit much, and moved some of the quests off onto other NPCs.
* Previously, if you suffered defeat while in the Ettenmoors you were whisked away to a defeat circle. There, your enemy could camp you and defeat you again and again without fear. The Free People and the Krahjarn War-Tyrant have become much wiser and now deploy their most powerful warriors to defend those locations.
* Previously, Food Sacks in Grothum displayed as FoodT Sack. We don’t know what a FoodT is, but we know what food is…we renamed the item Food Sack.
* The Isendeep Mine now flips based off of taking that location, not Lugazag.
* Orc scouts provided misinformation to their commanders and as a result met an untimely death. Captain-General Harvestgain is the true commander of the Free Peoples' forces at Lugazag.
* In the quest “Angmar's Tyrants” players were told to return to PLACEHOLDER upon collecting the necessary trophy drop. Since trying to find a PLACEHOLDER is akin to finding a non-entity we decided to give this PLACEHOLDER a name. Players should now seek out First Marshal Sathryth to complete the quest.
* In the quest, “Get to Grothum, Maggot,” Monster players are instructed to head west. We understand that orcs are not terrific with direction, but west leads to Angmar and a good whipping! The directions now correctly state, east.
* Directions to Lugazag are now clearer.
* Directions for the Darktide wolves plaguing the rat-folk in Hoarhallow have been updated.
* Pip Diggins at Ost Ringdyr, an emissary from the little folk at Hoarhallow now knows his name is not really placeholder.
* Target name in “Leader of the Rat-folk” now calls out Wat Mudbottom!
* Quests should no longer fail on logout on the monster player side of the Ettenmoors.
* The flags outside of the Isendeep should now flip when the mine changes hands. Of course, there is another bug preventing this from appearing…
* Raid quests in the Ettenmoors should now be level 50 for monster players and players alike.