This is definately a first...

[Nyya]

After a day, my internet finally came back up and is working now...except...

Now all of a sudden I can't get past the initial game load because my screen freezes and becomes all pixelated...I have to restart the whole computer...

...and here's the bizarre thing...approximately 30 minutes before this started...my older brother brought home a new...er, monitor for me as a Christmas present...

W...
T...
H...?

[Shinkuu]

Ouch... That is very not good. Did you try it without that Monitor? Maybe it is not completely compatible? Maybe you need to reload the game entirely?

[Solitaire]

Try updating your video drivers.

Another thing is to make sure that the monitor is compatible with the resolution that you were running the game in (if you ran it in full screen mode). You might need to use the launcher to restore your defaults. Under the Patcher Options button, check the "Reset Game and Character Preferences" option before launching. This will reset all the changes you made in the options menu so you will have to restore them once you can get in.

[Guaran]

That sounds like a typical video card failure. Usually a cracked solder connection to one of the Ram chips on the card.

If the card is under warranty, RMA it.

If not, there is a solder reflowing trick that can be done in the oven, but first you have to take the fan and heatsink off the card. And if it has regular cylindrical capactors, you can't do it. SMT caps are ok. involves carefully baking it at 400F 200C for about 6 minutes, then carefully cooling it. See http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792 for more instructions and pictures.

Do not do the above tho if the card has warranty, as it will void it. Be careful if you do try it. If you fry your card or burn down your house, I'm not responsible.

[Spirit]

After a day, my internet finally came back up and is working now...except...

Now all of a sudden I can't get past the initial game load because my screen freezes and becomes all pixelated...I have to restart the whole computer...

...and here's the bizarre thing...approximately 30 minutes before this started...my older brother brought home a new...er, monitor for me as a Christmas present...

W...
T...
H...?

Not sure if you've dealt with this... but changing the monitor might have *slightly* unseated your graphics card making it unreliable. Try taking it out and putting it in again and making sure it's secure.

The last pc I had that behaved like this, if you slightly wiggled the dvi connector where the monitor connects to the graphics card, you'd either get screen corruption or a reset. Reseated the card, and no problems.

If that doesn't work... try your old monitor. If that works, use a standard low resolution (i.e. 1024 x 768) then try the new one see if that works in the same low resolution. Work upwards from there...

I hope you got it sorted.

Rakku