The Demo severs are down for good.
To play the demo you need to disable your internet connection and set Origin to offline mode. Then the demo will run.
You can play the Single Player Game at any time you want, even if the servers are down.
Set Origin to offline mode, and if that not works, disable your internet connection completely and the game will run with the DLCs enabled.
The only limitation to that rule is that you need to login with Origin to your account at least once every 4 weeks. (I 'am not entirely certain if it is 4 weeks or a even longer time. I will tag @EA_Nils to make sure.)
@holger1405 wrote:
You can play the Single Player Game at any time you want, even if the servers are down.
Set Origin to offline mode, and if that not works, disable your internet connection completely and the game will run with the DLCs enabled.
The only limitation to that rule is that you need to login with Origin to your account at least once every 4 weeks. (I 'am not entirely certain if it is 4 weeks or a even longer time. I will tag @EA_Nils to make sure.)
Thanks for advice on a possible work-around. The procedure is a little more complex for me, as I rely on Origin to sync my save games across multiple computers. Going "Offline" is not enough, I have to go Online first, try to launch, get the error, exit the game, go offline or disable Ethernet, then start over.
I appreciate that you are trying to help, but I will insist that jumping through hoops like this should never be necessary for legitimate customers. The fact that it happens is simply because nobody at EA/Origin has paid attention to the issue.
Also, the servers are back up, so its a non-issue today.
Still: thanks for your reply and advice. :-)
You're welcome, but I am not sure what you expect.
The offline funktion in Origin is there so people can play there games even if the servers are down or in cases where the regional or personal internet connection is disturbed.
It's not a "hoop" to jump through, it's a funktion to ensure that people can play there games.
Servers have downtime, that's inevitable, all technology will fail or need maintenance at some point, that is also inevitable. There is noting EA or any other company in the World can do about it.
@holger1405 wrote:
You're welcome, but I am not sure what you expect.
The offline funktion in Origin is there so people can play there games even if the servers are down or in cases where the regional or personal internet connection is disturbed.
It's not a "hoop" to jump through, it's a funktion to ensure that people can play there games.
Servers have downtime, that's inevitable, all technology will fail or need maintenance at some point, that is also inevitable. There is noting EA or any other company in the World can do about it.
I expect that my digital goods work when I need them. That is what I paid for. The sales description of Masse Effect 3 did not mention anything like "hey, even several years from release ytou may be experience inability to play the game due to failing DRM checks" or anything like that. I understand the need for DRM in a modern world, but it is always a balance. Each and every time a paying user has a bad experience with DRM it has essentially failed - at least for that customer.
Your explanation of the offline function is also nonsensical and wrong - at least in the case of Mass Effect 3. Sorry, but your position is just massively apologetic. As a customer I had an error produced by the software, explaining that servers are down. There was no fallback to local certificates, skipping validation, or anything else. A user not running to the forums like I did would never know that "unplugging your network cable or shutting down your WiFi network" was a work-around. So the software has failed in its mission, which is to launch the game for a paying customer.
I'll also ask you straight out: where did it EVER say that Offline mode was a means to mitigate broken servers? I have seen it described as a way to play certain Origin games while actually being without internet connection (like on a train/plane/etc), but never ever as anything else.
And yes, its jumping through hoops. With cloud-synced games the procedure is significantly longer. It's also not an official recommendation anywhere - if it was, it should have been visible on my damn screen when the game failed to launch.
Lastly, you state that "There is noting EA or any other company in the World can do about it.". But that is completely and utterly false. And I specifically posted several suggestions to mitigate the issue in my first post. I am a software developer so I am intimately aware of how software works, how digital signatures work, and how license validation can be designed. I will repeat a few here, since you missed them before:
1.) Issue a user certificate that works - online as well as offline - for several days or weeks, so downed servers are not an issue.
2.) Skip the DRM check on older games completely. In this case the game is literally 4½ years old. If you can't ensure paying customers get what they paid for then remove the DRM by now.
3.) Promote old acounts with lots of spending to "gold" accounts so loyal customers are not hampered by technical issues and poorly designed DRM checks. That can be reserved for new accounts, or accounts with no/little spending on it.
I get that your status as "champion" here means you are a loyal member of the forums. But you should strongly consider if this has clouded your overall assesment of issues with EA and Origin products.
"1.) Issue a user certificate that works - online as well as offline - for several days or weeks, so downed servers are not an issue."
This is, as I stated before, already implemented (with the offline mode), and also documented. As a software developer, do you not expect the people who use your software to read the corresponding help-sites or manuals?
"2.) Skip the DRM check on older games completely. In this case the game is literally 4½ years old. If you can't ensure paying customers get what they paid for then remove the DRM by now."
Paying customers are ensured that they get what they paid for. The game works without internet connection at all, so you can play the game always and anywhere.
The only restriction is that you need to login with Origin in certain intervals, and that is clearly stated in the terms of service.
"I get that your status as "champion" here means you are a loyal member of the forums. But you should strongly consider if this has clouded your overall assesment of issues with EA and Origin products."
Well, I don't think that it clouded my judgement. I am critical with EA and Origin if I see actual problems, but In this specific case your claim that EA is not ensuring that paying customers get what they paid for is simply not true.
@holger1405 wrote:
"1.) Issue a user certificate that works - online as well as offline - for several days or weeks, so downed servers are not an issue."
This is, as I stated before, already implemented (with the offline mode), and also documented. As a software developer, do you not expect the people who use your software to read the corresponding help-sites or manuals?
"2.) Skip the DRM check on older games completely. In this case the game is literally 4½ years old. If you can't ensure paying customers get what they paid for then remove the DRM by now."
Paying customers are ensured that they get what they paid for. The game works without internet connection at all, so you can play the game always and anywhere.
The only restriction is that you need to login with Origin in certain intervals, and that is clearly stated in the terms of service.
"I get that your status as "champion" here means you are a loyal member of the forums. But you should strongly consider if this has clouded your overall assesment of issues with EA and Origin products."
Well, I don't think that it clouded my judgement. I am critical with EA and Origin if I see actual problems, but In this specific case your claim that EA is not ensuring that paying customers get what they paid for is simply not true.
I came here to say "hey, the servers are down AGAIN", just to let whoever monitors these forums know that the issue still exist. And there seems to be an answer to my previous post, which had gone unanswered.
So in reply to your first comment: No, I do not expect my users to scour online documentation for unrelated topics, when something doesn't work. When the ME3 servers are down, the game does not tell me to please try offline mode. Nor am I particularly interested in using offline mode since, as has been explained to you very clearly, I rely on the Cloud sync function to keep my save games in sync across my machines.
I realize that it is a potential work-around, but it is a clunky solution that is hard to identify since only user-driven forums like this one even mention it as a solution to server issues. Stop pretending otherwise. No official documentation suggest offline mode as a fix for server issues, and no message in the game suggests trying it either.
In regards to the TOS: gimme a break! Really? Seriously? You're throwing the TOS at me? What is this, a forum for lawyers and paralegals?
I am a customer. What is in question here is my experience as a customer, and my satisfaction with the products I have purchased. Telling me that I have no recourse "because it says so in the TOS" is neither helpful of improving my customer experience.
Regardless of whatever TOS you want to hit me with, and the wonky work-around procedure with using off-line mode (which is quite a procedure if one want's to sync saved games first, and doesnt even work at all for a machine where Origin has not been launched within the past couple of weeks) I am in the simple situation where I have paid for a game plus a *oad of DLC and it DOES NOT WORK AS INTENDED. You can argue and make apologies all day, and it still won't change the fact that when servers are down, it creates problems for customers. Checks for DRM/DLC fail, save games get out of sync, and certain online features (like Galactic readiness) are unavailable or miscalculated.
Let's stops pretending there isn't an issue. Your claim that there is no issue here, is blatantly false. The work-around is just that: a work-around, and it severely limits my customer experience.
Which holds true again, right now, where ME3 once again can't check the status of my DLC, or update my Galactic readiness. I can't play the game without using offline mode, which robs me of options, and is a cumbersome procedure if I want to ensure my saves games are correctly synced both before and after playing the game.
If this was a broken car we were talking about, your position seems to be that "it really isn't broken, because if you push it down a hill you can still drive it, and it says so in some unknown user forum you can Google yourself. Also, the manual says you have no recourse, so haha!".
Hi Guys,
i got off the phone with someone from EA and aasked him if the Servers are running. He checked, at least that is what he said he did and claimed them to be up and running. I can´t connect with the servers and i tried on diffrent internet connections. Also played arround with the firewall. Taht is not an issue either.
I gathered there is quite some disconnted in this thread. Has anyone actually found a work arround ? I know of one but that would defeat the purpuose of actually buying the game.
With regards
Liberation
The servers are running, just tested it myself.
Do you try to connect with the full game or the demo?
I have the full game with all DLC´s except Genessis 2
Then it's either a regional issue or a issue at your network.
Restart your router.
If that not helps, shut down your Windows firewall the firewall of your router (if possible) and disable the real-time scanner of your antivirus software. (just for testing purpose, don't forget to activate the firewall and the antivirus software later on.)
Should it work after you disabled the firewall, here is a description how to allow a program to communicate through the firewall
If that not helps here is a EA connection troubleshooting guide.
Thank you. I will give it another go. Will let you Guys know how it worked out.
Just to make sure for my self. You can connect to the servers in the game and play the games with all dlc verrifyed ?
Yes I can, but you can do that even if you are not connected. (As long as you did logon to your account at least 1 time inside the last 4 weeks.)
Set Origin to offline mode and try, should that not work, disable your internet connection completely, (pull the plug or disable the adapter) and the game will run with the DLCs enabled.
By account do you mean the Origins account or the Mass Effect account? Because the last time i played that has been at least a year.
I did a ping check and its bad. I have the suspicion that it does not work because i am currently borrowing the wifi from somebody and he has block protocols installed in his router. I will get my own on friday. Maybe it will work then.
To your Origin account, but sometimes it works regardless. Just test it, disable the wifi adapter with the switch or if there isn't one in the Windows device manager. Set origin to offline mode if the client is not already there and try.
@LiberationArmee wrote:
Hi Guys,
i got off the phone with someone from EA and aasked him if the Servers are running. He checked, at least that is what he said he did and claimed them to be up and running. I can´t connect with the servers and i tried on diffrent internet connections. Also played arround with the firewall. Taht is not an issue either.
I gathered there is quite some disconnted in this thread. Has anyone actually found a work arround ? I know of one but that would defeat the purpuose of actually buying the game.
With regards
Liberation
While it sounds like your issue could be a local one, do not be so quick to accept the server status from the support rep. As a regular player of the ME series I can tell you that sometimes servers are reported as "down" by the game, but the status pages claim everything is fine and dandy - even when it's clearly not.
Either the server status is incorrectly reported, or there is a periodic infrastructure problem at EA interrupting the connection to users but without the DRM/DLC server itself being down.
The issue usually lasts for about an hour, but sometimes more. It is fortunately rare - I experience it about once every other month (but as I am not on 24/7 the issue could be more frequent than that).
Be aware that if you use the "offline workaround" method to get the game going, your save game files may come out of sync if you have multiple machines you use for gaming. If you use a single machine your files are safe. Additionally, ME3 relies on an outdated mobile (ported to web) "game" called Galaxy at War:
http://n7hq.masseffect.com/galaxy_at_war/
This mini-game increases your Galactic readiness score, as reported on the launch screen and in the War room aboard the Normandy. As your actual score is stored in EA servers, it is not reported correctly when you are in offline mode. This could be an issue if you start the final mission, depending on your in-game actions and number of side quests completed.
