1: Are you using a software firewall? If so, have you allowed access to the game?
no
2: Do you have anti-virus software? If so, who makes it? Is it up to date? Is it blocking access to our game?
Anti-virus: NOD32, I have tried disabling it and it still doesn't work.
3: Does the game work if you run it while disconnected from the Internet?
no, in fact i just bricked my router from disconnecting the power to it to try this!!
My machine: Core 2 6600@2.4Ghz, Nvidia 285GTX, Windows 7, 4gb of Ram