Not for the first time, the folks at Evil Avatar have been playing AC2 and wrote a short editorial about it. Here's a snip:

The week started off with a very good monthly update patch. By good I mean heavy on content and light on bugs. The new quests and mobs are very nice, but the big addition is allegiance halls. The halls are nicely designed structures that provide a spot where you can meet up with the people from your allegiance by using a free recall skill. Over the course of the week the hall has proven to be very useful for item exchanges and has provided a nice social hangout.

They are also giving away five AC2 copies... this way.