[Old Report] Steam - Installing The Black Emporium
I own Dragon Age 2 through steam - just the base game, no paid DLCs. I was able to download all the promotional DLCs through the Origin client that launches from Steam when I open then game, except for The Black Emporium. Instead of there being a button to install the DLC like with the others, there's only a message stating "You have this content available through Steam. Download it on Steam to add it to your game."
When I view Properties of the game in Steam and go to the DLC tab, I only have "Dragon Age II Standard Key" listed, which is installed. I searched the steam store for DLCs related to DA2 but found only the paid DLC that I do not own.
I also found this download page https://help.ea.com/hu-hu/help/origin/origin/download-dlc-for-classic-origin-games/#dragonage which has an executable download for the Black Emporium, but when I run that, it says "The Black Emporium requires Dragon Age II to be installed first. Please install Dragon Age II and try again."
I've also checked under Downloadable Content and Extras in the in-game menu to ensure the Emporium isn't listed there alongside the other promotional items.
How do I get this thing enabled?
After contacting EA support for this issue, they directed me to Steam support. When I look into Steam support, they don't have a direct contact line or email; their help option menu boils down to a message stating that content for DA2 is not managed by Steam, so the game vendor would need to be contacted. Fast forward to a call with EA, and their only support advice was to "clear cache and try again." I wasn't even clear if they, for some reason, thought browser cache had something to do with this or if they were advising I clear Steam's cache (which shouldn't be relevant to a new installation anyway).
I did verify integrity of game files just to be sure, and I disabled + re-enabled the "standard key" listed as a DLC in the steam properties, also to no avail.
I mentioned to EA support that their own forums have a direct download link, but it comes only in the form of an executable which fails to perform its function on the steam installation. All I needed was the DLC files packaged in that executable, then I could install the DLC manually like I did for DA Origins. Their only recourse was to contact an escalation department, who they would not allow me to speak with directly. The agent reporting this problem clearly did not have an understanding of the issue, as the steps I was walked through for troubleshooting were steps you might use if the game was malfunctioning or declaring some error - it wasn't. The support rep kept asking what errors I was getting, or what the failure was when the game would launch. I mentioned the game has a menu to redeem codes; because it is a free DLC, can EA simply generate a new DLC code that will activate the DLC? The answer was no. Ultimately, they told me they could not help and to submit a bug report for this issue.
Fast forward again to some additional research, and it turns out some executables can be unpackaged manually. Sure enough, I opened the .exe in a file compression/decompression program and was able to access the local files. Installation was as simple as dragging the contained "da2_prc_one" folder to your installation directory: addins folder. For me, this was "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Dragon Age II\addins."
So thanks for nothing, EA. Your documentation is outdated, your links forward to nonexistent web pages, and your support shoves the issue off to another vendor. Keep up the great work! Hopefully this thread isn't deleted or archived at some point, as I imagine the information it contains may help others now or in the future where your support could not.
