So many questions =)
Yes, for lit translucency. Some prototypes have been done on this but the big challenges have not been tackled yet. We are leveraging the benefits of deferred very strongly with 15+ features that rely on a GBuffer so it is a very difficult task to achieve parity in a forward pass.
Yep, we know we need to improve this
We are optimizing all the time, including an almost 2x speedup of the rendering thread on Xbox One due to parallel rendering efforts. That will make its way to other platforms. Many optimizations focused around VR and the extreme framerates and resolutions that requires.
It’s important to us, but has not made traction yet.