Just a bit of a teaser, and not much new info. But the Amazon LoTR series is being filmed. Big surprise ... in New Zealand.

https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2021/01/12/110065-exclusive-official-show-synopsis-for-amazons-lord-of-the-rings-series/

Post by Cordovan on the forums on Friday

We wanted to get the word out about a few things in the works for the near future. We are currently working on a patch for next week that will include some significant updates to the game, and there are a few timing and dating announcements related to it.

Next week's patch will include our work to update PvMP, and it will also allow us to debut the Yuletide Festival with new items the following day. This update will also include the debut of T5 Stair Battle and Bloody Threshold starting at noon Eastern (-5 GMT) on Thursday, December 10th. Additionally, it includes a number of changes that will support the debut of Gondor to the Legendary Worlds of Anor and Ithil later in December. If you wish to prepare for the next update to the Legendary Worlds, now is your time!

Dates and times:

Yuletide Festival:

The Yuletide Festival begins on December 10th, starting at 10:00 AM Eastern, and the festival runs through January 4th, until January 5 that 3:00 AM Eastern.

T5:

Tier5 difficulty of Shakalush, the Stair Battle and Amdân Dammul, The Bloody Threshold will become available on 12/10/20 at 12PM Eastern. The Leading the Charge / Ahead of the Curve deeds and titles will be available for both instances through 1/20/2021 (turning off 1/21/21@3:00 AM Eastern).

Legendary Worlds: Gondor

The Legendary Worlds of Anor and Ithil will have their level cap increase to 100 on December 16th, opening access to the regions of Western Gondor, Central Gondor, Eastern Gondor, and Old Anórien. This content includes The Paths of the Dead, Gondor Aflame, Ashes of Osgiliath, and The Siege of Minas Tirith. Arrives to the Legendary Worlds of Anor and Ithil on December 16th starting at 10:00 AM Eastern.

Although the amount of true information is minimal ....
[url=https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2020/12/03/109157-amazon-studios-announces-wave-2-of-casting-for-lord-of-the-rings-tv-show/]
https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2020/12/03/109157-amazon-studios-announces-wave-2-of-casting-for-lord-of-the-rings-tv-show/[/url]

Expansion Packs, Valars and Carry-alls!

https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/lotro-black-friday-deals

Warning - lots of spoilers. But this is a nice compilation of open plot points.

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?684416-Complete-List-of-Lotro-s-Storylines-amp-Loose-Ends-That-Need-to-Be-Tied-Up-Eventually%27

War of Three Peaks includes a raid, a 6-person instance, and more than 80 missions. Missions are their own thing, but you can roughly scope them to be in the range of 2-3 quests each, and there will be at least 80 of them. Players will begin to see the scope of the content when it arrives on Bullroarer in the near future. The main thing is that Missions are larger in scope than your typical LOTRO quest, and will be available to play by one or two people together between levels 20 and 130. The raid and instance will release with the rest of War of Three Peaks, and will be included in the $20 expansion. -Cordovan

Here's a more in-depth article from MMORPG.

Boar Mounts (War Pigs?)
No Level Cap increase
New Raid

Does NOT replace the Gundabad expansion coming next Spring.

Did you know there is a Crick-wide Discord server? It's a good place to find out about events and get to meet our fellow Crickhollowers.

https://discord.gg/xTSzcqR

Don't forget our Oathsworn Discord - see the forum post here for directions.

Downtime Thursday morning for a very minor update:

The LOTRO Store will now use the native system browser instead of the embedded in-game browser if the game client is run through Steam. This is being done to correct an issue where players were unable to make purchases using the Steam Wallet using the in-game web browser.