Nice analysis. I haven't got the game, sadly, but I played it when my friend got it at launch in a sorta party. We managed to play...15 minutes I think, and we were trying for 4 hours. I liked what I saw.
We tried again yesterday for a few hours and had fewer problems, fortunately, but I'm still not sold on it. I was really hyped, like many, after the awesome first two, but this seems to be little of what I wanted. I'll now likely wait until it comes down in price, which is a shame.