What's new with PoE STANDARD?

Is it still bad?

Friend told me that PoE has a new map system. That's cool, I guess. But that made me ask, what else is new? I only play Standard, since I don't like starting over, especially like... by design, all the time, lol. My issue with Standard has always been 1) the ghost town trade scene, and 2) the fact that we get the league mechanics AFTER they got nerfed to the ground. So without trade, and without self-found, there's literally no remaining option for playing the game, lol.

Is it still this way?