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This Week In Review, Funny and Lucky Moments #50
Incoming Changes to In-Game Experience
Druid Mythic Tier 17, Upcoming Artcrafts, Neutral Level 90, Setup of the Month

Greater Rift Difficulty Progression

Looks like, as of now, the Greater Rift difficulty is completely independent of the difficulty setting you're playing, and will increase as you progress through the Rift.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

The difficulty inside a Greater Rift is completely independent of the difficulty your game is currently on. In other words, a level one Greater Rift will always be the same difficulty regardless of if you started it on Torment I or Torment VI. 

Bear in mind that you might not need to play through every level of a Greater Rift as you gear up and complete them more quickly. The more quickly you complete a Greater Rift level, the larger a chance you'll have to "jump up" additional levels (and potentially multiple levels if your time is exceptionally fast). Of course, we're still tuning this system, so please be sure to hop on the PTR (once it's available) and let us know what you think!

The Cesspools

Nevalistis dropped by a thread to give some clarification on the Cesspools mentioned in the Patch 2.1 Preview.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

The Cesspools are an additional environment that will begin spawning exclusively in Nephalem Rifts (including Greater Rifts). They aren't a new zone, however, so there aren't new monsters or bosses associated specifically with them. That would also run somewhat counterintuitive to one of the qualities of Nephalem Rifts in that they are always randomized. It'd be a bit odd to introduce a new environment to Rifts and then have them produce static results.

Adding the Cesspools in was an opportunity for us to toss in a sort of "bonus" for Patch 2.1, as well as feature the awesome artwork and animations that didn't make it into the launch version of Reaper of Souls that our environment team worked on.

That said, it does not mean that Blizz is not planning other things for rifts and Greater Rifts.

We shall certainly see! Let us know what you think of this new environment, and if you'd like to see more, once you get a chance to explore them on the PTR. We certainly want to sate your Greed for new content. 

Future Clan Features

It looks like there are no new Clan functionalities and features planned for 2.1, as the developers are focusing on class and set balancing, Seasons and Greater Rifts. That said, they are still looking for feedback on what changes players want for the Clan System, and are definitely considering making changes in future patches.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)

Any idea if the clan function over D3 battle.net will have an upgrade?

We're definitely interested in adding additional clan features in a future patch. Patch 2.1, however, is primarily focused on introducing Seasons and Greater Rifts, along with a few other changes you can read about in our preview blog. 

Of course, it's never too early to hear what you'd like to see added to Clans & Communities.  We've seen a lot of features requested, and we're actively collecting and passing them on to our development team for consideration. What kind of features would you like to see as a Clan or Community Member? What about as an Officer or Clan/Community Leader? (Official Forums)

So...the class balance 3.0 fixes mentioned...
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/13141214441
and
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/13182188100
....takes a back seat to.....new leg beta testing and rifts 2.0.

Class balance was something I called out pretty clearly in the preview blog.

Of course, with so many competitive elements hitting the PTR, we're also reviewing each class thoroughly to ensure no matter what you play, you have a fair chance at reaching your Seasonal goals. While we won't be getting into class specific details here, we wanted to share with you a few examples of overarching adjustments we plan on experimenting with during the Public Test phase.

Bold for emphasis. Class balance changes will be a big part of 2.1 as well, we're just not prepared to share the details on that at this time. There will be patch notes accompanying the PTR, though, so you'll be able to dig into them once the PTR is available. (Official Forums)

How Long Should Seasons Last?

Let us know how long you think Seasons should last when patch 2.1 launches?