while i didn't have much luck with patch 1.01 (indeed, it was very frustrating); i've had much better luck with patch 2 (not even a crash yet *knocks on wood*). i have had some minor issues though.

- systems of conquered empires stay red even after i captured them and stay that way until i quit and reload
- sometimes upon leaving a planet the game pauses like it's going to crash (but hasn't yet *knocks on wood*)
- creatures are still sometimes invisible but actually show up after a minute rather than the eternity it used to take
- the sporepedia still pauses sometimes but in my opinion this isn't much of a problem for me
- overall the game is much better and more responsive than 1.01

best of luck to the folks patch 1.02 didn't fix from 1.01


EDIT: still having problems with invisible creatures (invisible epics are the worst)
http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/0/13127.page#174878

the game only seems to crash after my drive gets somewhat fragmented.
after i defragment my drive it doesn't crash again.
fix this too!

I had invisible creatures on patch 1, and only very occasional crashes. I found a work around for the creatures then. Patch 2 has all invisible creatures, the work arounds I had don't work any more. The first mission I tried since the 2nd patch would not not complete. It was a raise planet to T3 mission and did not show as complete after I raised it to T3. I'm dissapointed. I guess I'll wait till patch 3.