During the last few days Turbine's developer Orion has been sharing with Lotro community some interesting details about changes that we can expect in Book 9. Unfortunately, there are no conforming information about latest rumor and new expansion, but there are plenty of information concerning the Lonelands revamp:
Lonelands will cover levels 22 — 32 and will overhaul the epic quest line there significantly. Yes, there are new quests planned. Yes there are new camps planned.
The intention is to make North Downs from Trestlebridge north to the border of Fornost and west to the borders of Evendim and east to the area of Kingsfell into an alternative leveling area for 22 — 32. Orthrikar, Meluinen and everything east and north of Esteldin will become a 32 — 42 area.
Also there is the revision to Garth Agarwen first instance in The Lord of the Rings Online.
Garth Agarwen contains nearly as many creatures as the whole of the southern bog of the Lone-lands.Starting with the outer sanctum I focus on the first section of the instance which will now become a public lobby geared toward players in three-man fellowships. Quests that point into Garth Agarwen will still be completed in this space, though obviously not all.
The result is as follows:Garth Agarwen - Arboretum, Level: 32, Fellowship Size: 3, Encounters: 1, Quests: 5
Grimbark will now have a Challenge objective in the fight. The challenge? Kill Grimbark without killing any of the beehives that fall at the outset of the fight. Of course, his skills will need to be reworked to ensure that the quest can be completed by a fellowship of three and the reward for completing the Challenge objective. I identify 4 new skills that I need to make for grimbark - fortunately none will require new art or animations.
