Cut Throat Mode

Sorry for the belated reply.

The last league I played was three hours. The competition was two-fold: a prize for highest level attained in that hour, and a prize for most unique account kills. That is to say, not the most kills overall, but the most different people you kill.

Three hours was a good duration for something that intense. Any more than five and I'd probably need a break -- yeah, shut up, I'm an old man. :)

As I mentioned, everyone starts from scratch. This means that people joining half-way are at a sever disadvantage -- it's a race, as are all timed leagues, in this respect.

You proceed to town, hopefully form a party (so important in Cut-Throat), and head into Terraces. Once you do that, you are under threat: anyone can ctrl-click the entrance to a zone and see not only their instance (as per normal) but everyone else's. If someone not in your party enters your instance, the message 'Someone has entered the area' pops up. If they get close to you, they're a red cross on the map.

If you die, either to player or monster, all your items, equipped and inventory, shower to the ground, Diablo 1 style. You only get to keep your skill gems. Stashing and knowing what to use and what to save becomes a very valuable skill.

As I also said, waypoints become horrific in Cut-Throat, since they're instant portals for potential killers into your world. On the other hand, if you're on the hunt, they're shortcuts to glory...

That's Cut-Throat summarised, really. :)

clearly GGG understands that MORE options is better NOT LESS LIKE DUMBLO3

but ya, games like PoE are a bright shining star of hope for the future of video games (ARPGs at least)