LotRO Book 8 launches today in the US; Thursday 25th slated as tentative European release

The time has finally come for players of the US/Oceanic version of Lord of the Rings Online to experience Volume 2 Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-Dûm, as the large patch makes it to the live servers today. The information-packed official update notes are long and dense; here is a small sample of the changes and additions:

• The Epic Book 8 quest line, involving the thwarting of Gorothúl, sorcerer of Dol Guldur
• The Summer Festival, including two new events, located at The Shire and the area outside Thorin's Hall
• A huge crafting revamp
• Numerous class tweaks
• A barter system for First Age Legendary Items
• Changes to Lothlorien Gift Boxes
• A boat NPC for Lake Everswim... er, Evendim!

Of course, to get the full scoop on these changes and more you'll want to sift through the actual notes, or for a more visual take, you can check the dev tour we were given late last month that looks at some of these things.

The other good news is that we now know that Thursday the 25th is the tentative release date for Book 8 on the European servers. It was first spotted on the LotRO-Europe Twitter, and later backed up by Community Officer Faya on the forums. We're expecting official confirmation of the European launch date within the next 24 hours.