I stopped playing just prior to the Chardok patch and have in the past two weeks returned to the game.
Since returning, I've noticed that the items dropped by the raider camps in North Karana and South Karana have changed:
- More rusty weapons instead of bronze weapons
- Barbarian (M/F) and Half Elf models (M) now drop Bandit Sashes (previously only dropped by Human models (M/F))
- Barbarians dropping Human Blood
Were these changes intentional?
Not much proof to add other than experience... I've killed hundreds and hundreds of bandits on multiple characters prior to the Chardok patch, and I've killed at least two hundred post-patch.