Mr. Angry, did you finish book 9 and the four epilogues? SoM contains the longest epic book chain released in the game so far. It is also the best story line so far. I thought Volume 1 had a good story but Volume 2 was great at the ending. The epilogues were also nice so you could wrap up any loose ends with the NPC's you fought along side in book 9. Personally I really enjoy skirmishes. It is a great way to get item exp runes and LI relics. There are lots of fluff and goodies on the vendors for people to buy with skirmish marks. On the other hand, I'm not impressed with the new lvl 65 gear. However I think it'll be just like MoM. Turbine will release new craftable teal gear in a future book update just like they did for Lothlorien gear. I won't be playing the same 12 skirmishes for the next year cause they would become boring but JWBarry has already said they are busy working on the next round of skirmishes to be added.