[EA App] DAO Ultimate boots to main screen but not saved or new game

No matter what i have done, my DAO Ultimate will boot to the main screen - but whether I select Load Game, or New Game the loading screen appears and the game freezes but shows as playing in Steam and does not show up as non-responsive in taskmanager, yet it just soaks more and more resources till my computer shuts down and reboots. File verification through steam validates all files with no new download. EA repair verifies the files and completes the repair "Ready to Play", and yet big fat Nope! I'm a computer tech by trade and I've looked through registry, directx, 2005 Redistributable, .net files restarted computer, uninstalled game and redownloaded it 3 times now in Steam, even moving the \Documernts\Bioware\Dragon Age folder to desktop - and Nope cant play the game. I'm about ready to delete the game and sue for a refund cuz this is complete BS!