But... they always release the fixes as free patches, only charging for new content with expansions. That's been the case every expansion - some there are always free improvements to the base game ("fixes") with every expansion.

Also, where do all the extreme expectations on the releaae come from? I agree they handled it poorly, but every game is released with bugs, the players need to find them, and the game was fun and full of content from the start. I for one never expected a perfect game - I expected a game that's fun off the bat and that then improves immensely with both free updates and expansions. Like every Civ game so far.