Re: Can't play offline

No more predatory updates! We should not be forced to download and use an unreliable product that rarely executes tangible improvements.

The option of "offline mode" is a blatant lie. There is absolutely no reason for the game to have mandatory updates.

This has happened to me 3x so far, I lost one save file already, and this last time almost broke and corrupted my game. If we have the choice to update or not, then that's exactly what it should be, a choice. Turning off auto-update in game and in EA means we're choosing not to update at that current time, so EA's software shouldn't be updating or insisting anything as soon as we open the app. 

To see one version of this:

See "MissLollypopSims" video on YouTube at  1:18 , for the forced update error [ in her case, also error  EC-204 ] that demanded she update The Sims 4 to the latest version, to be able open The Sims 4 at all.

She had everything turned to OFFLINE.

The video is called "The new Sims 4 update BROKE MY SAVES…"

Amidst so many bugs and critical unresolved issues created by updates (instead of being fixed by them), to top it off by forcing users to update their game is beyond unreasonable.

If you (EA) can't guarantee timely stable user friendly versions of their game, at least let users op-out of those updates for the time it takes for one to exist.

I 100% agree. This is the only app where being offline can still force you to update. It’s ludicrous 

I seriously doubt this is a bug as far as EA is concerned. I hope this gains traction and it satisfactorily addressed because I have no intention on updating this game for months if I can avoid it. Every update is just making this worse and I think I'm done with the IP in general come December. 

You're not doing yourselves any favours by alienating your customer base EA/Maxis. 

EC-204. What it looks like in action.

Today, I tried to launch my game, but after it crashed yesterday, I would’ve kept it running if it hadn’t. When I opened the EA App, a message popped up saying I'd been offline for a while, forcing me to close and restart the app just so it could “verify it’s really me.” With no other choice, I had to relaunch it. What followed was this message giving me no choice but to update the app or quit.. Of course I'm now concerned that with the way everything is being handled, updating the app may force my game to update automatically. 

I’ve been playing this game since 2019—religiously. I’ve been late to events, had arguments with my partner, and spent entire days immersed in it. EA has no right to make my property unusable. If I want to use specific mods (some of which I’ve even paid for) to enhance my game experience with the expansion packs I also purchased, I need my mods and custom content to work.

If that means playing on an older version of the game to keep everything intact, so be it. We should not have to jump through all these hoops just to decline an update.  I’ve already paid for the game and the updates that come with it. I should have the right to play any version I want, without being penalized or restricted. This is my game, and I should have control over how I play it.  If they're unwilling to make older versions available or provide a proper fix—one that actually works, not just a hasty, poorly executed attempt that only causes more issues—then they should offer full refunds to anyone who refuses to play if the majority of their mods/CC can no longer be used in the game."

From yet another Sims 4 player, yesterday.

I fully agree. I stopped updating at 1.119, and I want to stay there. I shouldn't have to turn my internet off just so I can keep from being forced into an update I don't want. EA does NOT need to verify our ownership over and over again, no other game does that. They don't need to force updates. We don't need the latest version. Other games offer legal and official ways to roll back to an older version for stability or modding purposes. (Skyrim, Fallout, Plague Inc., etc.) We should be able to have the version we want and not be forced to update, ever. EA needs to stop forcing us to update, start respecting our choice to stay offline or version lock, and make legitimate rollback files freely available to the community.

It would be nice if fixes were released as packs that could be installed into whatever version we have (like official mods). I do understand there would be limits to this, it would take too much time and effort to support too many older versions. However, I'm sure many fixes are fully backward compatible and could be released without forcing an update to the latest version.

If EA thinks their predatory practices are going to prevent p!racy, they're wrong, because I'm seeing more and more people going that route because they can't take it anymore. Both vanilla and mod users alike are doing whatever it takes to stop the game-destroying updates and stay away from the marketplace. Stop giving us updates that break the game worse every time and ruin mods, and start giving us what we're actually asking for. That's how you keep the player base loyal and legal.

Six months after this they have forced another update. I couldn't launch my game at all until I did it. And now, with their marketplace forced on us also - they are saying I didn't buy the 21 packs, kits, etc that I purchased through the EA app. They have basically stolen my game. And I've asked for support and of course received NO reply from them. 

Not only the forced updates, but I should be able to ply my game offline if I am traveling with no access to internet. I have spent hundreds of dollars on Sims content and it is unacceptable that I cannot play it if I am not connected to the internet.

I'm also very tired of updates, all they do is make the game worse even when they're trying to fix it!

Absolutely ridiculous that players are strong armed into updating a solely single player game like this. I'm done spending anymore money to 'better' this game, because now I can't even play what I paid for. Screw the marketplace and the greedy corporate employees sucking the soul out of this game and ruining franchise in hopes of scrounging up a few more cents from its player base.

It is absolutely ridiculous that simply taking the EA app itself online is not enough to renew any sort of license. The fact that an online connection is needed to initiate offline mode is already absurd. Are we going to start having DRM for our DRM? Why is the app made not to trust its own infrastructure? I would certainly hope it is not purposefully done to force unwanted updates and monetize the marketplace for those who want nothing to do with it. Are we at the point that customers not wanting to exchange real money for "moola" are going to have their already paid for single player offline game held for ransom?

i was forced to update my game today and never had this issue before. i don't like it. especially when i was already going to do the work of combing through any possible broken CC but now i'm forced to do it. I hate that. I don't even want to play anymore

THIS 100%!! I don't understand where all these updates are coming from when it feels like nothing is truly fixed. Sims still make annoying to take care of children (specifically infants and toddlers).  For some reason adults will just pass off the baby like hot potato. And kids for some reason can't change the thermostat and have to wait for an adult to come to do that. It makes no sense. Piercings don't look functional and you have to mold the nose around the piercing instead of the piercing just fitting the nose.

And what do these updates do? Nothing but break mods. I hate these forced updates that we can't avoid that change absolutely nothing to the game.

I'm fed up with updates that break my game. I wanted to stay with the pre-Marketplace version and just be done with it. I'm used to the bugs that exist and I'm willing to forgo all the "enhancements" that keep interrupting my gameplay and rendering mods useless.

But I was finally FORCED to update to the newest version. WHY? What is the justification for MAKING users play a version of a game that they don't want to play?

If you think you've forced me to accept the Marketplace, guess again. I immediately installed a mod that removes the Marketplace from my game. 

Just leave my game alone. Every time developers "fix" one thing, they just break another. If users want to keep trying out your updates, fine, let them do that. But let users choose to opt out of this whack-a-mole code game. 

This has happened to me so many times I've just deleted Sims 4 from my computer and stopped playing it altogether. If it's not sneakily trying to install a game update by forcing you to update the EA app it's sending you random error codes that don't mean anything to block you from opening the game in offline mode. It gets to a point where it's like, okay EA, you update the Sims 4 literally every week and every update breaks the game even more, so every time I try to play the game, I have to spend several hours updating my mods and testing them. I have a job and other things going on in my life (like everyone I'm sure), so I cannot play the game after updating my mods most of the time! I just would end up having to get ready to go to work and miss out on playing the Sims after being ready to do so the entire time; the only thing keeping me from doing that was the updates! And like I said, the updates make the game function worse most of the time, so there truly is no reason in my eyes to be updating so often. Do one last update and make sure you fix the game or don't update it again.

The forced update finally got me last night because (apparently) logging into the app then going offline meant i hadn't logged into it recently and they "had to make sure it was really me". And by the time i cancelled the update at 6% the damage was done and i couldn't play offline anymore. If this is what's being prioritised over actually fixing the game, no wonder it's gotten to the state it has 

I am getting the message. "You've been offline for awhile. Restart the app and sign in so we can make sure it's really you. Then you can get back to playing games offline". Yet, I was already signed it but every time I go offline, it will sign me out and won't allow me to play the game, offline.

I am getting the message. "You've been offline for awhile. Restart the app and sign in so we can make sure it's really you. Then you can get back to playing games offline". Yet, I was already signed it but every time I go offline, it will sign me out and won't allow me to play the game, offline.

This is still an issue even 8 months later. I'm furious. I just cleaned the house and now I have to update my mods before I can relax the way I wanted to. Why are you like this??

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. IM DYING OVER HERE