Please preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.
(Make sure the "EABackgroundService" remains enabled under point 3 in the guide.)
Make sure your virus scanner and other security software and also Afterburner and similar software is disabled.
A reboot is one of the things I tried a few days ago, but not the completely minimal "clean boot". I also added exceptions for the game's launcher and Link2EA in my antivirus, which is Avira Security.
Avira doesn't give me an option to disable it in the typical sense, it only allows me to disable its "real-time protection" feature for a time that cannot exceed 24 hours.
I'll give the clean boot a shot and get back to you.
