diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b7c9afa1..f0b52bbc9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ If you have a fix or code change, feel free to submit it as a pull request. Ahea
 
 Things to Do, Work in Progress, and Help Wanted tasks are tracked in the [Meta](https://git.wownero.com/wownero/meta/issues) repo. 
 
-Join `#wownero-dev` on IRC freenode to participate in development conversation.
+Join `#wownero-dev` on IRC OFTC to participate in development conversation.
 
 ## Scheduled software upgrades
 
diff --git a/src/cryptonote_basic/difficulty.cpp b/src/cryptonote_basic/difficulty.cpp
index 416816592..da73987b2 100644
--- a/src/cryptonote_basic/difficulty.cpp
+++ b/src/cryptonote_basic/difficulty.cpp
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ namespace cryptonote {
     if (length <= 1) {
       return 1;
     }
-    if (HEIGHT < 200 && HEIGHT > 2 && m_nettype == TESTNET) { return 500; }
+    if (HEIGHT < 10 && HEIGHT > 2 && m_nettype == TESTNET) { return 500; }
     if (HEIGHT <= 55 + DIFFICULTY_WINDOW && HEIGHT >= 55 && m_nettype == TESTNET) { return 1337; }
     if (HEIGHT <= DIFFICULTY_RESET_HEIGHT + DIFFICULTY_WINDOW && HEIGHT >= DIFFICULTY_RESET_HEIGHT && m_nettype == MAINNET) { return DIFFICULTY_RESET_LEVEL; }
     static_assert(DIFFICULTY_WINDOW >= 2, "Window is too small");
diff --git a/src/cryptonote_core/blockchain.cpp b/src/cryptonote_core/blockchain.cpp
index 3f660831f..e27da6eb7 100644
--- a/src/cryptonote_core/blockchain.cpp
+++ b/src/cryptonote_core/blockchain.cpp
@@ -867,7 +867,7 @@ start:
   ss << "Re-locked, height " << height << ", tail id " << new_top_hash << (new_top_hash == top_hash ? "" : " (different)") << std::endl;
   top_hash = new_top_hash;
   uint8_t version = get_current_hard_fork_version();
-  uint64_t difficulty_blocks_count = version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
+  uint64_t difficulty_blocks_count = version <= 17 && version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
 
   // ND: Speedup
   // 1. Keep a list of the last 735 (or less) blocks that is used to compute difficulty,
@@ -985,7 +985,7 @@ start:
     MGINFO("START DUMP");
     MGINFO(ss.str());
     MGINFO("END DUMP");
-    MGINFO("Please send wowario on Freenode #wownero-dev the contents of this log, from a couple dozen lines before START DUMP to END DUMP");
+    MGINFO("Please send wowario on IRC OTFC #wownero-dev the contents of this log, from a couple dozen lines before START DUMP to END DUMP");
   }
   return diff;
 }
@@ -1017,7 +1017,7 @@ size_t Blockchain::recalculate_difficulties(boost::optional<uint64_t> start_heig
   const uint64_t top_height = m_db->height() - 1;
   MGINFO("Recalculating difficulties from height " << start_height << " to height " << top_height);
   uint8_t version = get_current_hard_fork_version();
-  uint64_t difficulty_blocks_count = version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
+  uint64_t difficulty_blocks_count = version <= 17 && version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
   std::vector<uint64_t> timestamps;
   std::vector<difficulty_type> difficulties;
   timestamps.reserve(difficulty_blocks_count + 1);
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ difficulty_type Blockchain::get_next_difficulty_for_alternative_chain(const std:
   std::vector<difficulty_type> cumulative_difficulties;
 
   uint8_t version = get_current_hard_fork_version();
-  size_t difficulty_blocks_count = version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
+  size_t difficulty_blocks_count = version <= 17 && version >= 11 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V3 : version <= 10 && version >= 8 ? DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT_V2 : DIFFICULTY_BLOCKS_COUNT;
 
   // if the alt chain isn't long enough to calculate the difficulty target
   // based on its blocks alone, need to get more blocks from the main chain