They said they wanted to make the game more open for exploration, because the time limit led people away from enjoying the exploration element of the game. I can believe that.
Gamers are silly, and need their hands held to tell them stuff now-a-days. It's not my preference at all, but I love the fleshed out world of DR much more than the time limit, and if you had to get rid of one or the other... I'd rather sacrifice the time limit.
The whole "warring factions" think is a pretty expected idea in games like this now. But I like what it seems to mean here. People always complain about Escorts and stuff, and it felt MUCH less important in 3. The fact they've been given potentially more purpose, to group up, survive, and die on their own (and become fresh zombies to boot) sounds interesting.
They announced the Dec. 6th release date last night, and of course promise to reveal a lot more in the coming months. Nothing hits the spot like a DR for me, so I'm calmly looking forward to it.