Okay, thanks guys... I don't think the solution was as much creating a new character (I actually signed out of my live account to do this, so I didn't over wright my save or anything) as it was just quitting out and going back in... although I tried that a few times with no effect. And as for the online mode crapping out... I was just playing the campaign? As I said, it wasn't like lag, it was like trying to run, say Crysis at max settings on a five year old PC... slideshow. I'm thinking this game might be worth getting again on PC, but I really only got it because I specifically wanted something to grind some hours away on the 360. Anyway, fingers crossed it'll stay fixed... Got Sacred 2 on release (console release at least) and I haven't really gotten into it, then I got distracted by other games... so I'll stick around on the forums for a while.
Edit: Oh and to save me wasting another thread, there's a zombie-thing that follows me everywhere... I think I picked him up on a quest very early on in the game, but I either failed or just didn't finish the quest, because he is with me at all times now and it's really giving me the FECAL MATTER!s. I looked through my early quest logs, and it looks like I finished all the escorting type quests... so is this another *sigh* bug or did I miss something? He doesn't do anything, doesn't attack, take damage from anything, etc... he's just my zombie buddy -_-