What's new:

The Arena in MM9 is definitely way better than in any of the previous M&M games. You can fight at 4 difficulty levels, watch the fights, and even bet on the fights! (I love that! )
And when a monster beats another monster, he does a 'victory dance' facing the crowd -- which is absolutely hilarious!

So when I saw it for the first time, I decided to forgive MM9 all of its shortcomings right then and there.

And now -- finally -- the Arena will hopefully be setting an example of bug-free functioning for the other parts of MM9 to follow

* corrected an Arena bug which prevented you from getting rewards for Lord fights after you do the Gladiator promo (and during the promo quest itself)

* corrected a VERY nasty Arena bug which sometimes left the side doors locked, trapping monsters inside and making it impossible to finish the fight

* the ticket fee for watching the fights is now collected properly

* there is now a money sound on all taking/giving out money at the Arena

* removed some leftover debugging code

Now, *** If you know of any other Arena bug, please let me know! ***

In the other news,

* the 'Artair Ordway Chalice Challenge' is now totally fixed and works exactly as advertised in a book further down the hall of the Ta'Sar Academy

* the Genie in the Ruined Temple
* will now give a choice of which attribute to increase
* anything he does is now accompanied by a proper sound and/or message
* the wishes of gold and experience are worth a bit more consideration now

* Hardcore Might & Magic Fan Special! The dice-based weapon system used in the previous M&M games is found in the dark depths of MM9 and dragged out, kicking and screaming, for old-timers' enjoyment!

This is what you used to see:
(sorry you'll have to manually edit the URLs because picture links are not allowed here)

Poor Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/PoorSwordOld[dot]jpg

Mercenary Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/MercenarySwordOld[dot]jpg

Imperial Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/ImperialSwordOld[dot]jpg

Storm Axe: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/StormAxeOld[dot]jpg

And this is what you're going to see now:

Poor Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/PoorSwordNew[dot]jpg

Mercenary Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/MercenarySwordNew[dot]jpg

Imperial Sword: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/ImperialSwordNew[dot]jpg

Storm Axe: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/StormAxeNew[dot]jpg

There is a catch, however. In MM9, every item comes in 3 quality levels: normal, good and excellent. The data provided concerns only the 'normal' level. I can't change it on the fly, so you'll have to keep in mind that good adds +1 to attack AND damage while excellent adds +2.

All weapons in the game will now display such data, while all armor will display its level (AC is already displayed by the game).

* the notoriously confusing and more often than not, just plain wrong artifact descriptions are all changed to reflect their actual properties.

Like this:

Used to be: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/IntegrisOld[dot]jpg

Now: http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r192/DCP23/MM9/IntegrisNew[dot]jpg

And, saving the best for last:

* There is now a totally new Quest in the game.

From my research into the game's depths I know there are several quests which should have been there but aren't. One of those is an optional FedEx-type quest involving an evil artifact known in the M&M Universe as the Fizbin of Misfortune.

Since there was no way to know any particulars on it, I had to re-invent this quest and while at it, added a significant twist so it's no longer as straightforward FedEx mission as you might expect taking the quest.

Furthermore, it's now a secret quest which you will have to find for yourself. Without giving too much away, look for the quest giver in Drangheim, and then -- you're on your own