when trying to run VO on my PC it gets stuck on the "getting characters" screen, the station in the background still spins and you can cancel the login, but you can't select any characters

Have you tried reinstalling?

I'm actually having this same issue. I can connect to the test server just fine, but not the main server. I'm assuming some issue just upstream from my ISP.

That's pretty strange. There is a "compatibility mode" network option you can try toggling in the game settings. We'll look into it. If people see this happening regularly, please let us know.