I've seen it happen twice since the patch. Both times it appeared that nine people were in but there were still only eight. One of the players from group 1 or 2 wasn't actually physically in the game, they just still appear in the raidframes and end of match board. I think people are leaving or getting disconnected but their information is being left in the game so the game has to make a third group / ninth slot for a real eighth player. At least that's been my experience with this bug.

Last I checked, travel time and load screens don't equate to something being more or less difficult. They simply consume time that has little to no gameplay involved to get to the actual gameplay where the concept of difficulty is applicable.

Legacy level 29 and I haven't bought any perks. Was considering buying some of the new ones for 1.3 but if they remain character specific that's out. Part of the problem with character specific is that if you're leveling a class you've never played before. You have to make a big investment for those perks, which is a gamble. You may get to level 25 and realize you don't like that class at all and don't want to finish leveling it. And now all of those perks credits are wasted. I'd rather just level without them and spend the credits on things when I get that character to 50, if they make it to 50. If they did away with the legacy system (and my 29 levels of it) tomorrow, the only thing I'd miss would be the multi-class buffs, which wouldn't be a terrible loss. I just don't have enough credits to even touch the legacy system.