I think you all are being a bit rough. I've experience many of the CTD problems since release, so I have as many reasons to be ticked with ETW as anyone else. I've also been playing TW games since Shogun, so I've also had ample time to get frustrated with CA.

But I have to say that ETW is the best TW game they've ever made. I know it had bugs, and they need to be fixed. I know we'd all prefer that there were 0 bugs on release, but console games get released with bugs and they're designed with everyone using the exact same hardware and software set-up!

I'm never surprised by weak AI because it's the hardest thing in the world to do right. It is something I always expect the devs to continue to tweak and improve after release, but I've never played a game with a challenging AI out of the box.

ETW has so many new things that, I think, are HUGE improvements over previous TW games. I don't have to babysit pissy citizens anymore like the worst of times in RTW. I can build multiple buildings at once now, both in the city AND throughout the region. The travel distance of armies, navies, and agents has been increased, so I don't bash my head in frustration about how long it takes to move across the map. The diplomacy system shows you the reasons and numbers behind how other nations feel about you, which is an enormous improvement. I don't have to choose between towns that make money and fortresses that don't like in M2TW. I have real naval combat for the first time in the series. The graphics are beautiful (but don't focus too much on that CA, AI >>>>>> graphics!). No more agent spam. Diplomats are gone and replaced with a better system, princesses are gone, assassins and spies have been merged... You also don't have to build or pay any upkeep for the agents you DO get. There's a technology tree, and it improves existing units and structures rather than just unlocking replacements that you have to build! The trade system is much more transparent and open to your control what with trade goods you produce, trading posts you can park merchant ships on, trade routes you can either plunder/raid or block completely.

Of the things that are bad with this game (bugs primarily), I don't think ETW has abnormally more than usual for other PC games. On the things that are great about this game, I think there are an unusually large number of improvements in this installment relative to the number of innovations you get in other games. I think only Relic does more to mix things up each time it makes a new game, and as a fan of DOW2, I have to say that ETW got more of those new things right than DOW2 did.

Kiernan said the right things. There's only so much words can do to soothe. All I ever care to hear from devs is:
1) They're listening to the players
2) They're aware of the issues raised by the players
3) They agree with the players that the issues are problems and the devs intend to fix them
4) When those fixes are imminent

After that, I judge them by their actions. The patches so far have made ETW far more stable for me. While I still get the occasional unavoidable CTD that forces me to abandon a campaign, they're WAY less frequent now, and I hope I'm able to further reduce the chance that they'll ruin my campaign by cycling 4 save files.