I remember reading about Bethesda programming in the ability to hotfix things like scripting issues without issuing patches, kind of like what happened with the new Mortal Kombat. Then all went quiet on this. Can they still do this?

No, not on xbox. Microsoft is very strict on these things.
They will firstly validate and check the update before approving it. And that takes time.

Yea its a great company but I hear they are Nazi's about what they "approve". I'm talking about Microsoft

it takes the longest to test the actual patch before sending it live, this prevents making things worse (remember this is Bethesda not Blizzard )

I'm sure Bethesda is nearly done with the patch, but M$ and Sony cert takes a few days to a week or even longer.

update done this morning. problem with textures is still fukin there............GET IT SORTED..........b 4 i want my ￡ bak.

Perhaps they are trying to hit most of the birds with one stone? I think they are getting a lot of fixes in a big patch because the game just released and that is why they are taking longer.