New Quests: Refuge Upon Talan Haldir ;  Circles of Silence ;  Anduin Patrol

New Items: Dwarf-make Linen Armour ;  Master's Armour ;  Treasure-hunter's Armour ;  Mallorn Haft ;  Khazad-iron Ingot ;  Mallorn Brace ;  True Golden Wood Club Recipe

New Mobs: Galhiril ;  Goblin Scout ;  Giant Anduin Lizard ;  Orc Way-finder

New Recipes: Golden Wood Club ;  Mallorn Haft ;  Mallorn Brace ;  True Golden Wood Club

Updated Items: Dwarf Quilted Shirt ;  Drakeskin Cuirass ;  Cotton Robe ;  Dwarf Quilted Jacket of Fleetness ;  Dwarf Padded Jacket of Determination ;  Broken Dwarven Breastplate ;  Relic of Khazad-dum ;  Extraordinary Leather Wrapping ;  Mithril Flake ;  Lothlorien Silver Branch ;  Orc Plans for Lorien ;  Plank of Treated Mallorn ;  Golden Wood Club ;  True Golden Wood Club ;  True Golden Wood Club Scroll Case

Updated Mobs: Haldir

New Mobs: Langeredir ;  Aeswe ;  Maenasdur ;  Nestadwe ;  Tincbrennil ;  Bachwen ;  Fladdan ;  Tawariel ;  Mirdi ;  Pathredil ;  Langeredir ;  Aessel ;  Roddaneth ;  Hathelnir ;  Tawaril ;  Fladron

Updated Items: Dry Rations ;  Hard Rations ;  Rich Rations ;  Simple Rations ;  Tasty Rations ;  Travelling Rations ;  Distilled Flask of Conhuith ;  Distilled Flask of Lhinestad ;  Distilled Healing Draught ;  Distilled Healing Salve ;  Distilled Milkthisle Draught ;  Distilled Milkthisle Salve ;  Distilled Salve of Conhuith ;  Distilled Salve of Lhinestad ;  Infused Conhuith Draught ;  Infused Lhinestad Draught ;  Infused Healing Draught ;  Infused Healing Salve ;  Infused Milkthisle Draught ;  Infused Milkthisle Salve ;  Infused Salve of Conhuith ;  Infused Flask of Lhinestad

Updated Areas: The Vineyards of Lorien ;  Crafting Hall

New Items: Elven-steel Grip ;  Galadhrim Sword Recipe ;  Galadhrim Sword ;  Galadhrim Greatsword Recipe ;  Galadhrim Greatsword ;  Galadhrim Axe Recipe ;  Galadhrim Axe ;  Galadhrim Headman's Axe Recipe ;  Galadhrim Headman's Axe ;  Galadhrim Dagger Recipe ;  Galadhrim Dagger ;  Galadhrim Halberd Recipe ;  Galadhrim Halberd ;  Galadhrim Mace Recipe ;  Galadhrim Mace ;  Lothlorien Waybread Recipe ;  Lothlorien Waybread ;  Golden Wood Roast Recipe ;  Golden Wood Roast ;  Galadhrim Ration Recipe ;  Galadhrim Ration ;  Potent Athelas Essence Recipe ;  Potent Athelas Essence ;  Potent Celebrant Salve Recipe ;  Potent Celebrant Salve ;  Golden Wood Bow Recipe ;  Golden Wood Bow ;  Golden Wood Crossbow Recipe ;  Golden Wood Crossbow ;  Golden Wood Staff Recipe ;  Golden Wood Staff ;  Golden Wood Spear Recipe ;  Golden Wood Spear ;  Golden Wood Hammer Recipe ;  Golden Wood Hammer ;  Golden Wood Javelin Recipe ;  Golden Wood Javelin ;  Golden Wood Club Recipe ;  Golden Wood Club ;  True Golden Wood Club ;  Golden Wood Great Club Recipe ;  Golden Wood Great Club ;  Obsidian Rune-stone of the Galadhrim Recipe ;  Obsidian Rune-stone of the Galadhrim ;  Flint Rune-stone of the Galadhrim Recipe ;  Flint Rune-stone of the Galadhrim ;  Icy Rune-stone of the Galadhrim Recipe ;  Icy Rune-stone of the Galadhrim ;  True Golden Wood Club Scroll Case

New Mobs: Maenasdir

Updated Items: Lothlorien Silver Branch

Updated Mobs: Bassiril ;  Aesseryn

Today the highly anticipated Book 8 Expansion for Lord of the Rings Online went live on all servers. Readers may remember that just a few weeks ago, Turbine invited us on an in-game playtest of their latest content, and now players can enjoy all of that and more today. In particular, this update will bring the foreboding 12 person raid, Dar Nabagud, as well as the 6 person instance, Halls of Crafting. Finally, this free content update also brings two three person instances, The Mirror Halls of Lumul-nar and the Great Water Works of Nala-Dum - The Water Wheels.

Also coming with this expansion is the new Summer Festival, the upgrade to the crafting system (and more crafting options). Finally, with this update also came with tons of tweaks and updates to all of the classes, as well as a re-tuning of some low level content in the 15-25 range. If anyone was interested in checking out Lord of the Rings Online, today would be a great time to do it! You can try out a free 10-day trial by going here, or you can read the full patch notes over here.

Volume II, Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm launched on July 23 and a hotfix has been implemented to fix some issues, including lag across all worlds. Also, a bug was causing the the gates to the first boss in the Halls of Crafting to close after half an hour, which was preventing the instance from being completed. The gates should now remain open, so you should now be able to finish the Halls of Crafting.

There's also a running list being kept on the official forums outlining the current known issues in Book 8, including a bunch of bugs with repeatable quests. You can read the full list of known issues below.

New Quests: Plating the Seeds for Harvest

New Items: Ominous Pool ;  Shield of the Whitehand ;  Whitehand Shield ;  Whitehand Helm and Feather ;  Uruk Helmet with Stuffed Craban ;  Caerlug's Arm ;  Caerlug's Arm ;  Ergoth's Wings ;  Wings of Ergoth ;  Thaguzg's Armor ;  Thaguzg's Armor ;  The Blind One's Skull ;  The Blind One's Head ;  Flagit's Head ;  Istum's Head ;  Zholuga's Head ;  Heads of the Globsnaga Elders ;  Drop of Hard Resin ;  Fairy Flax Fiber ;  Black Mushroom Field Recipe ;  Empty Spore Pouch ;  Pouch of Black Mushroom Spores

New Mobs: Ardela ;  Bungo Brockhouse

New Recipes: Black Mushroom Field

New Objects: Mallorn Branches ;  Heavy Mallorn Branches

New Quests: Keg-hopping Race: Off to the Races ;  Keg-hopping Race: Otto the Outstanding ;  Keg-hopping Race: Signar's Swift Step ;  Keg-hopping Race: Leg It, Lar ;  Keg-hopping Race: Kolmar's Credulity ;  From the Shire to Bree-town

New Items: Dwarf Race Token ;  Triumphs of the Dwarves Music Box ;  Summerfest Bed ;  Summerfest Painting ;  Large Vegetable Garden ;  Small Vegetable Garden

New Mobs: Arnar ;  Kolmar ;  Lar ;  Signar ;  Otto ;  Jorfi