So, I can launch WA's front-end, even join WormNET and join a game (although the colours are all psychadelic). The problem is that when the loading screen appears, the pie thing remains empty having emitted a tiny beep.

I have to Ctrl+Alt+Del out and when I try to maximise WA again it crashes, displaying the attached message. ERRORLOG.TXT (archived to fit the forum limitations) has also been attached.

Now, when I close Miranda everything is fine. The front-end is in the correct colours and games launch as they should.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a fix/workaround aside from closing Miranda every time I want to play or using another IM client?

iMuchos gracias, amigos!

I use Miranda too (some recent beta/alpha version) with lots of plugins and I have no problem with WA.

IIRC, Miranda too has a "always on top" or "floating contacts" feature somewhere.
Try disabling it and see if it helps.

I can tell you more later when I'm home from work.

The crash is due to game being minimized/restored during the loading pie, and has been fixed in the last Beta. I don't know what causes the loading to freeze, but I suggest you find the Miranda plugin that does it by disabling separate plugins.

IIRC, Miranda too has a "always on top" or "floating contacts" feature somewhere.
Try disabling it and see if it helps.

It turns out the problem is caused by having Miranda docked.

Good work! :)