S3 Items in TTL/Dom, BFT Nerfs, Friend's Notes Update, and more

Are you ready for a sizable collection of red posts? I knew you would  be!
Continue reading for posts regarding which of the new S3 items are making it into TTL/Dominion, some upcoming nerfs for Blackfire Torch, an update on the long awaited Player notes feature, and a tease about the upcoming icons to be awarded based on lifetime amount of RP purchased.

 S3 Items in TTL and Dominion
With all the fancy new preseason items and updates right around the corner, RiotNome has put out a list of which items will and will not be making it into the non Summoner's Rift game modes.

Here is the list of changes to Twisted Treeline's item roster :

"Season 3 Items Excluded

• Hunter's Machete, Spirit Stone, and its upgrades tend to be advantageous towards already-powerful archetypes. In addition, because of the smaller jungle, the increased jungling speed will not be necessary. This may change in the future.
• Homeguard Enchantment is not included due to the smaller size of the map.
• Liandry's Lament is a weaker version of Blackfire Torch, and will be left out due to differences in champion viability.
• Ohmwrecker will also be removed due to its skewed benefits towards bruisers and tanks.
• Sightstone and Ruby Sightstone will not be available, as wards are not available.
• Runic Bulwark will not be available to keep AP champions viable.

Twisted Treeline Items Removed

• Lord Van Damm's Pillager will be temporarily removed due to conflicts with Black Cleaver. It will be remade and repurposed.
• Wicked Hatchet will also be temporarily removed, as it's very similar to the new Executioner's Calling. It too will be remade and repurposed."

... and here is the same list except for Dominion:

"Season 3 Items Excluded

• Hunter's Machete, Spirit Stone, and its upgrades will be absent due to the lack of jungle in Dominion.
• Homeguard Enchantment is not included because it'd likely have negative ramifications towards build diversity and strategy.
• Liandry's Lament is a weaker version of Blackfire Torch, and will be left out due to differences in champion viability.
• Ohmwrecker will also be removed due to there being no traditional turrets in Dominion.
• Sightstone and Ruby Sightstone will not be available, as wards are not available"

Upcoming nerfs to BFT
Additionally, RiotNome also mentioned a number of nerfs for the TTL exclusive Blackfire Torch are coming down the pipeline.

"Blackfire Torch
-Reduced magic penetration from 20 to 15
-Decreased maximum charges from 25 to 18
-Decreased the duration of the burn effect from 3 to 2 seconds
-Increased the delay between charge gains from 1 to 1.5 seconds
-Increased the burn amount from 1.67% to 1.75% of max health per second
-Fixed a bug that caused the first tick of burn to not consume a charge" 

Where in the world are the Friends List notes?
Iniquitee, a technical production coordinator, stopped by the forums to reassure summoners the Friends list notes, a feature originally mentioned in the Rengar patch notes, hasn't been forgotten!

"Hey guys! We haven't forgotten about friend notes. The feature is unfortunately not as simple as it seems, and we've had to roll out some backend work that will ensure they will work for millions of friends and notes on the live servers - as well as getting in a couple small UI tweaks. As soon as we're sure that everything looks good, we'll be rolling them out - and it won't be too long."

Lifetime RP Purchase Rewards 
In the past, Hippalus has mentioned his desire to award new summoner icons to summoners have purchased a lot of RP over their lifetime as a League of Legends player. When asked about the current plans for these special icons, Hippalus commented

"I am hoping for December, but January is more realistic"

When cornered about how much RP we are talking, he responded  with

"The current plan is that there will be increasingly cool icons for all tiers of spending."

Hippalus also mentioned that there will be even more oppurtinies for new Summoner icons in 2013

"Only you can answer that one, but I hope not. There will continue to be lots of cool stuff for players who don't buy RP, including icons in 2013 that can be earned other ways."