Trying to play it takes two (pc) but friend's origin account is offline.

I bought it takes two through Steam and created an Origin/EA account. I invited a friend to play with me who downloaded the friends pass and logged into their origin account. The game is unplayable because their origin account is permanently offline. We have tried everything to get it online from previous forums, etc, but nothing worked. They can't even see my friend request. I would appreciate any help I can get on this matter because the game is essentially unplayable without it.