That's not how Windows Firewall works. I have a Linux gateway device (router for those of you who are consumers) with a fairly complex firewall setup and every PC on my LAN from XP to 10 run Windows Firewall. Firewall on or off does not affect ping. The way it works is that it blocks incoming connections or allows them. When you first host a game on 7 Days, Ark, or anything else, you are prompted to allow connections to that specific program. There is no option to increase latency or block half the packets coming in or something. Either it allows the connection or it doesn't.
That said, a lot of after-market (garbage) firewalls like Norton or McAfee do funny things. I do not suggest running those for that reason alone, amongst a host of other reasons.
My first thoughts on 30,000ms pings (that is thirty seconds between clients) is framerate being too low, insanely slow uplink (satellite Internet, for example), or massive packet-loss. I believe you'd need at least a steady 30fps on the host to maintain decent pings.
*EDIT*
Another thought. Are you trying to game on WiFi? If so, you likely found your issue. Run a network cable and try again.