LotRO's update 14 opens West Gondor, raises level cap to 100

Turbine has just released preliminary patch notes for Lord of the Rings Online's update 14 on the Bullroarer test server. Here are the highlights:

• The level cap has been raised to the nice shiny and round number of 100.

• Three new regions -- free for VIPs -- have been added. "Explore and enjoy West Gondor!" says the team.

• Volume IV of the epic story has been implemented. It's free for all players.

• The Essence system is functional. "New gear found throughout the world can be upgraded and enhanced by placing Essences into available slots. These Essences are currently earned as drops."

• The game now has a new global chat channel, accessible through /world or /wd commands.

There's much more to the notes, including trait tweaks for the classes, on the official forums.