I was having log-in problems after activating the Launcher, getting that old log-in screen with the connect button and a pop-up message saying ‘couldn’t connect’. So I opened the ‘Shared Cache’ menu in the Launcher and ‘Verified’ the integrity of all downloaded files, it purged somewhere around 1500 extra files, I then closed the launcher and reopened it and now have no problems logging into the game.
EDIT:
That was before Downtime, I just logged in and the same old log-in screen showed up with the same pop-up message, I just closed it and reactivated the launcher, no problem logging in this time.
Now about the chat issue, during Downtime I googled how to open a port in Win 10, I followed the directions and now in-game chat is working.