I bought this game when it was recently on sale, and I loved the first one, and I know I'll love this one, if it wasn't for the combat. The combat in the first game was awesome, but I'm finding the new combat system (attacking) very difficult to use. Almost every time I swing from horseback I miss, or the sword has been switched over to the other side of the horse when I've moved the camera. Any help on how to fight better? Or even better, a way to turn it back to the classic system...

I had this too, You should try going to the settings screen and turning on 'attack by movement direction'. It gives you way more control then the unpredictable default 'attack by mouse direction'. I haven't bought the original mount and blade so I don't realy know what you mean by classic tough.

The way the animations are now you can't start a right swing, turn your camera left, and release LMB to deliver a right swing. Your arm follows your aim so make sure your facing the appropriate side. After that it's just a matter of getting your timing down and knowing the reach of your weapon, both of which you ought to be able to figure out quickly with practise.
 
Of course if you really want the old way there's a mod IIRC that changes it back. I'm not sure if you'd be able to play multiplayer with it on though.

Pro Tip: Always wear a shield on your back.

My problem is that the camera is always set so high. I have to aim well above the horizon to swing for somebody else on horse back. At first I thought the game didn't support widescreen correctly and cut parts of the screen off instead of adding more. But this isn't the case, sadly. I swear I see more of the sky than anything else when in battles.
 
Seriously why is the camera so freaking high? Is it so we can't see the wonky leg animations as we WASD around in circles? If so then at least zoom the camera out when aiming high so it doesn't cut off everything below our ribs.