For me somewhere between changing out graphic drivers, adding the GPU memory fix, and the various hot fix/updates from CA that have been applied through Steam (4 to be exact) I now have a perfectly stable playable game and have had --- for well over a week.

The guys form CA have stated that their initial fixes were more aimed at stabilizing the game for a bigger number of players. I know there are still some who can't get the game to run, but I believe their numbers are a lot smaller than they were prior to the last couple of updates. I know the game is stable for me now when it wasn't a few weeks ago, so I am in the lucky majority (I think)

There are still nagging bugs and game play issues, but nothing that has stopped me from completing and enjoying both the RTI campaign plus a complete "conquer the world" grand campaign as the British on medium.

I finished my grand campaign by 1780, which means I played 160 turns with at least 150 of those being totally crash free. According to my Steam stats I logged in just over 90 hrs playing Empire in the last two weeks. Somewhere in the last 10 turns I experienced two random crashes which did not repeat on the next try, but I was playing with some of my GPU settings so I may have contributed to them in the first place.

Most of the issues have been listed in every bug thread dozens of times, so I won't bother to try to list or repeat them, but I'm pretty sure CA has to be aware of them all by now and I'm also pretty sure they are working on them as fast as time and resources will allow.

If you've read the bug thread you are probably aware of most of the game play issues, so if you can live with them until they are fixed, get the game an give it a try.

Cheers