I'm late to the thread but here's my 2 cents.
Would I pay to play again? You bet.
Was AC1 better? In some ways way better. Truer to a RPG. It was (IMHO) more hardcore. But, to this day my friends and I still talk of the good old days in AC…
The 1st time I was sucker punched into the ocean by a Gurog I laugh so hard I nose blew my soda. Really.
I played AC1 (great game) from day 1 and AC2 from day 1. Loved both. I would definatly try AC2 again if it returned.