I don't want to spoil all the fun, but I thought it was worth commenting on some recent changes to the game world you might have seen, or may be yet to find.
While we traditionally don't like the idea of changing huge areas en-masse, we do sometimes feel like certain areas are worth revisiting and revising to make them clearer, more fun, or to evolve their original idea into something more compelling. Much like real towns and cities, places can change. In this case, we've actually stuck quite closely to the original vision for the area in question - it was just very vague and confusing before, and we've tried to make it unambiguous.
One thing we've been looking at recently is how to make the religion of Valorn clearer - The deities, the nature of death, and other things like that. We've introduced several tomes/books to that effect, and the changes to the game world are an extension of this process, because these things should be evident in the writing as you roam around. They don't necessarily reflect any storyline, and you may find other areas revamped in the future along similar lines.
We hope you enjoy the changes.
- Z