Update is out next Thursday.
They added act 4.
They’re removing the cruel difficulty (previously you had to run through acts 1-3 twice consecutively, now you run 1-4 + 3 small “interlude acts” that serve as fodder to level you up)
They added new tiers to support gems and removed the restriction that stopped you from having multiple of the same type supporting different skills.
They added a new auction house system that allows trading buying items from other players with no need for them to accept the trade, so if an item is listed on the trade site you may always buy it instantly.
There’s a lot of balance changes and additions to the crafting system, too. It’s looking like a biiiiig patch.
time to line up for the slop!
They never were doing it because they think they have to, the game is in early access and the endgame was designed to be played starting at level 65. The only way to bridge the gap between act 3 and maps was to make players repeat content; the other acts just aren’t ready.
POE1 hasn’t had difficulties in the campaign for about 10 years.