Theory: These "patch notes" aren't just the result of some random fun Chris had that he wanted to share with us. I believe there may be unannounced major release-day changes hidden within... that Chris has actually given us an elaborate puzzle to solve.
First, lets sift out a portion of those whom survived the obliteration wrought by Markov and arrange them in a prefix/suffix format not unlike PoE's:
Lets start with a prefix...
"The starting Scion nodes"
"We have reviewed every Skill and Support Gem"
"NPC and player names are now"
Hm, lets see if we can add a suffix to that last one..
"can be crafted using the mouse wheel."
Nope.
"on the overlay map and minimap."
Hey.. lets try that:
"NPC and player names are now | on the overlay map and minimap."
We already know this to be the case, which is excellent -- it is proof that at least some tangible information survived the wrath of Markov.
Lets try another subject..
"Vaal Pact"
Ah, this one's easy:
"Vaal Pact | no longer applies a penalty to leech."
Lets try something else...
"Low-level items"
and try on some predicates:
"have been replaced by Jewel nodes."
"no longer attaches to The Warehouse District."
"on the overlay map and minimap."
"have more sockets and more linked sockets."
Whoa, hold up... lets try that last one...*
"Low-level items | have more sockets and more linked sockets."
WHOA, that fits! Could it be!?
Well, maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I intend on going deeper.
These Markov'ed "patch notes" span 694 words. Lets assume for simplicity that each "patch note" is roughly of average length to that of an actual patch note.
They were posted within the same hour of Chris also revealing that the actual patch notes were up to 8900 words, thus, lets assume that the 694 words are a portion of an estimated total of 8900.
How is it, then, that with only 1/12 of all the pieces, we are able to fit so much of the puzzle together?
I believe this is because Chris has, in actuality, given us a puzzle to solve.
Pull out Notepad, /r/pathofexile..