Glad you all have worked it out. Ultimately at a high level the process is a couple of steps:
1) Install game client as administrator in Windows
2) Install universal installer
3) Register forum and net-7.org account, link them
4) use that account for logging into game, start launcher and point it to client.exe and not their default E&B.exe which was the original game patcher
5) work past any file issues with installations used, get into game and authenticate with that net-7.org/game account, get an orange handprint and play again.
It's probably about time to update the universal installer so that it has a modern day installation to eliminate some of that noise.