tested if i could join a quick battle and i could, so it's not that i cant connect to others, but somehow couldnt connect to you...
also, this scrambled text reappeared after i finished the quick battle, which is unsettling, never had problems with that before and when googling for 'Empire total war scrambled text' a whole new world opened up for me. a scary one! I stopped looking and hope it wont interfere too much...