Well...
I have to admit, this patch is better than I first thought. I hated that I spent time heirlooming my sidsword only to have it nerfed, however due to the crazy money bugs last night, I had been avoiding actually playing, and instead have been reading all the horror stories on the forums.
I just played for the last couple of hours and I have to say that combat is actually much more exciting than it used to be. Everything feels faster and more fluid. Even though my side sword took a nasty damage nerf, I was able to compensate with the increased mobility we've been given.
Everyone is bitching about archers being overpowered, but honestly, they seemed fine.
I'll have to play it for a few more days before I come to a final decision, but despite all the negativity (my own included), I'm actually starting to like this patch.