Since there is not a separate thread for it, and the Beta forum also wanted us to discuss the changes to the early chapters in the matching Update thread, I just have to say
@helya that I am sorry that Inno made you lie to everyone by calling these "minor" changes. New cities will now have to wait until chapter 2 before joining a fellowship, and wait until chapter 3 before any crafting can be done, and wait until chapter 4 before doing anything with the tournament or AWs, and now have to wait until chapter 5 before they can touch the Spire. And all of those also require a research to be completed, so they are not even automatically available as soon as you enter those chapters. Yes, overall the research in the first 5 chapters has been streamlined some and KP costs reduced, but even with trying to rush through all this in my Beta test city, it still took me over 4 weeks before I completed the Spire research in chapter 5 and it felt like a normal city again.