Ok, bit of an update - yesterday I had to switch to Win XP to check something out and I figured I might as well try the game also. And go figure, it works... So, the same exact hardware, older operating system, and the game works. That means wows might not like Win7, or maybe it's something with the newer video drivers/newer directx, I don't know... but wg need to keep working on this and not ignore it, cause there are plenty of ppl out there with similar issues.