Minas Morgul expansion's novelties

The release of LOTRO's Minas Morgul expansion has been announced for October 29th (with a few reservations in the fine print). This will be the most substantial update to the game we will have seen in a long time, and hopefully it will bring more players back; it certainly looks as though there will be plenty to occupy them.

Minas Morgul will include two entirely new regions: Minas Morgul Vale, and what SSG are calling “Mordor Besieged”. There was little explanation about the latter in official press releases, but last Friday's Livestream by Community Manager Jerry Snook revealed that "it will take players on a time travel trip to the Second Age and the last time Mordor got trounced by the Free Peoples. Here’s a fun twist: You’ll be able to store all of the loot you get in the Second Age part and then dig it up to keep on your main character!" (a direct quote from Massively Overpowered, as I find life too short to waste on watching promotional Livestreams). The other novelty, of course, will be the new playable race of Stout-Axe Dwarves, which will no doubt excite hardcore altaholics. Following a long-standing request the new dwarves can be male or female but (surprise!) the sexes will look identical.

In terms of numbers, there will be a 10-level cap increase to 130, a new virtues cap of 65, and "at least" two more class trait points. No significant changes to the legendary system, though presumably caps will rise there as well.