1.8 has added a new portion of the map, with the aircraft carrier that is docked in the northeast portion of town. It’s also added 2 new game modes and increased the GS cap to like 296.
In addition to those changes, players can now optimize your gear, in addition to the usual recalibrsting 1 stat on normal gear and 2 on classifieds (I think that’s right for classified, I don’t have any get). Optimizing costs Division Tech and some other mats (I think) but it allows you to get pieces that aren’t to max GS to the cap. So, 1.8 added new content, but a lot of new grind and reason for that grind.
I played the new horde mode, but not the PvP mode. I’m currently investing a lot of time grinding in Diablo 3, so I don’t think I’ll do it in Division. I’d need a lot of time and work to get my builds back to top GS again so I could have a chance in PvP and I don’t think I want to put that time in. I know that’s the premise of a looter - grind, hit max level, optimize gear, repeat - but I don’t think I’d have as much fun with Division as I’m having with Diablo 3.