Reddit AMA
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/134w2f/iama_developer_on_assassins...
Notable things: there is going to be a patch coming out soon, with general bug fixes, UI improvement, improvements to the chases, and the ability to lower the hood.
The George Washington DLC will be "True to Connor", meaning probably that he somehow has to play through vision of a possible future, probably brought on by the apple that George possesses at some point in the main storyline. This means we can expect the beginning of the DLC to be canon and take place after the events of AC3. (speculation on my part)
Also: apparently lots of other people think that the new "safe free-running" is a much bigger change than it was before, calling it "on rails" and stuff. I don't think people realize that the AC free-running has always been really really scripted, and this system is just allowing you to always take the path that leads to living.
Conversely, lots of people seem to think the new combat system is simplified, which is empirically untrue if you judge solely by the fact that counter-killing now takes two button presses if the guard is vulnerable to normal counter kills, and significantly more if not. I suppose the idea that you can only counter with certain weapons is out, but the fact remains that weapon stats are still there and kinda mean more. Hidden blades are probably the worst open combat weapon, as they should be.
Oh, also:
"To Matt Turner: How much did Desmond's script change from what it was originally? (It was supposed to be end as a trilogy)
permalink
[–]MattRTurnerScriptwriter:
It didn't change a ton. We had a good idea of what we wanted to do very early on and tried to stay as true to that vision as possible."
EDIT: I think I'm going to make that my signature
It's a bit too bad that this patch came AFTER SOME PEOPLE ALREADY BEATEN THE GAME!
Anyway, I'm glad that they're actually listening to their fans...unlike most game developing companies.
Can't wait to have the option to pull up or down Connor's hood. Why the hell wasn't that in the game to begin with? Better yet, why wasn't that in ACII-ACR?
It's not an option to pull up and pull down, but it makes the default setting of the hood at up after you beat the game. And yes, this patch is a bit late, but if they fix chases and other things, it'll make full sync easier for those who don't have it. Not to mention I WILL be replaying this game multiple times on other files. There was a day one patch.
Also not having "put hod up/down at will" in the game was probably not in because it's harder to properly implement than you think. The AMA makes it clear that they're aware of the issues with the game and simply reached a point where polishing had to finish for the game to come out at a reasonable time. (Because unlike some people seem to think, you don't keep working on a game until it's 100 percent perfect, because you'll never get there. you work til it's playable and as bug free as you have the luxury to make it before launch.)