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Strajder69's avatar
6 years ago
Solved

Mass Effect Andromeda online connection problem

Hi, I have issue with connecting online to play multiplayer part of the game. Message I receive while attempting to connect says " You are not allowed to access online features of this game".

First things first, I preordered standard edition of the game back in 2017 and had a zero issues playing both single and multiplayer part of the game. A few months ago I received an email from ea telling me to upgrade my account security with 2 way authentication which I did and because of that they gave me a 1 month trial for origin basic access. As my game was installed, origin access automatically recognized my standard edition as deluxe edition (later I found out that with origin basic access you get deluxe version of the game). Now I have not played or downloaded any games during that trial period at all. A week ago I decided to play mass effect series again as many time before and when mass effect andromeda was in line for playing, when I started game yesterday I was greet with above mentioned message not allowing me to connect online.

So my second step was to search for this issue online and to my surprise I found what is causing this issue on this very forum, here is the link for that topic

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/MEA-Can-t-access-online/td-p/6544158

So issue is caused by that origin access trial promotion, when expired, it caused some glitch and now origin still sees my game as part of origin access with deluxe edition version of the game and thus requires from me to pay for subscription to be able to connect online.

My third step was to try all troubleshooting advice out there (from various users from forum and from ea troubleshooting page), tried with changing dns settings, deleted origin and all possible leftovers from install directories, cache files from appdata folder and all registry entries. I also done all this for the game and reinstalled everything again but none of that solved the issue. 

Reading trough above linked thread I realize that only possible fix for this is to contact support and ask them to fix my game like they did with few people from the mentioned thread.

S I contacted them and explained my issue to the operator and even linked the above mentioned thread with the description with the issue and with the actual fix but he did not want to listen to what I'm saying so he started usual "robot" questions. I tagged along and when he finally realized that I was right about the issue his reply was that I need to pay for monthly subscription if I want to play game which I bought for 60 eur and had nothing with the issue causing it.

I was shocked and couldn't believe what he's saying to me. I replied to him to try and fix my game like they fixed the same issue for the other people from the mentioned thread and he replied that he don't understand how to fix it and again said to me that I need to pay monthly subscription to be able to play. Then I requested an full refund for the game because clearly I didn't do anything wrong and if they cannot fix problem which they caused it then I want my money back, off course he replied that I cannot do that. To cut thing short from that point on every my question and request he just started replaying with the complete same thing about paying monthly sub to be able to play a game and then he disconnected me from the chat. 

I was F*****G furious, I paid for the game, didn't do anything wrong and he said to me that now I need to pay monthly subscription to play game I already paid for and at top of that he just disconnected me like I'm some piece of garbage.

So I cooled myself a bit and contacted another operator, done all the steps like with the first operator and then he asked me to try and delete all origin files from appdata folder and then to restart a pc and to contact him again if the issue is not solved. I told him that I already tried that but I will try it again because first time I didn't restart my pc. So I did everything he asked from me, restarted pc and off course problem was not solved.

So I went to contact him again and now on my surprise I no longer have an option for the live chat, only option available now is the phone call. Maybe I'm wrong but this looks to me that they blocked me for contacting them again. I informed myself that if I use phone call they will charge call expenses to me and that is not an option because I live in Serbia and the cost of that call would be enormous and not worth at all.

Now I'm even more pissed off and as a last resort I decided to create a thread here hoping that some representatives from ea will see this thread and contact me about fixing this issue.

If this also fails then I will be forced to consult my lawyer about this issue because I paid for the product which I cannot play because ea made some glitches with their services and they won't even give me a refund or at least fix it as they did with few other people with the same issue.

  • UPDATE: Finally they or better to say he fixed my issue. What I did is I went to the EAHelp on twitter and got in contact with a guy by the name of Isaac via direct message. I sent him link for this topic describing him my issue. Then he just asked for my email address associated with a game and after some time needed for him to check my account he was able to fix it. 

    Thank you very much Isaac

6 Replies

  • UPDATE: Finally they or better to say he fixed my issue. What I did is I went to the EAHelp on twitter and got in contact with a guy by the name of Isaac via direct message. I sent him link for this topic describing him my issue. Then he just asked for my email address associated with a game and after some time needed for him to check my account he was able to fix it. 

    Thank you very much Isaac

  • I wonder what he did to solve your issue because I got same *, even removing the game and putting it back doesn't seem to solve things. 

  • xXDevilDuckXx's avatar
    xXDevilDuckXx
    5 years ago

    It doesn't matter.

    Like the OP I too originally had the version from the Origin free subscription. Cancelled my subscription bought the Mass Effect: Andromeda code from Amazon (I still have the diskless box, with the insert that contains the download code purchase 08/05/2019) only to find out it's borked and lacking any support. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I got squat. People have gone to jail for such thievery. I've been waiting for a fix for this for YEARS. Multiple tickets opened with none of them ever responded to by anyone at EA, Bioware or their affiliates. I've waited HOURS on multiple occasions for chat support in the off chance I might get someone that may be willing to help and every time I signed off out of anger or more important real life concerns.

    So, ya, don't anyone get your hopes up that they will do anything other than take your money and run.

  • holger1405's avatar
    holger1405
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @xXDevilDuckXx 

    If you waited hours for a connection the chance is that something is blocking it.

    Restarting the router, changing the region to English (if not already set this way), changing Browsers (to Internet Explore), disabling add-ons especially anti-script and ad-block software or the windows firewall and the virus scanner for the contact attempt could help.

    If all this fails and call becomes the only option, you can use a Voice-Over-IP service like Skype, Viber, or Google Voice for this call to reduce the cost. Just put your location in the Voice-Over-IP service to UK. (UK number  +44 203 0141818 (Available 9AM-9PM GMT, Monday through Saturday)

     More international Telephone numbers:

    UK: +44 203 0141818
    France:  +33 4 81 68 08 08
    Spain: +34 911 230 490
    Germany +49 221 37 050 193
    Austria: +43 720  88 33 49
    Mexico: +52 33 4770 5297
    Norwegian:  +47 21 08 17 06
    Dutch: +31 20 80 83 219
    Swiss  +41 225 18 10 05

    Poland  +48 22 39 70 840
     
    You also could try EAs Support on Twitter or on Facebook.

    This actually seems to be the most successfully method.

  • @holger1405

    I thank you for taking the time and energy to respond and provide useful information (for clarity I want you to know that isn't sarcasm). Again, thank you.

    I wouldn't have considered there being a local network error blocking me from the live chat being that hours before I tried to contact them I had made doubly sure my network was spot on. Especially considering that the error I was getting from MEA appeared to be connection related. Also, it's easy to imagine a mega corp understaffing to squeak a few extra gold dabloons in the shareholder's portfolios. I've seen it first hand.

    As far as the rest goes I killed my Twitter account back in 2009 and was on a 7 year Facebook break that ended only a year or so ago. I have a cloudy memory that leaves me feeling like I did call and never got anyone to talk to me but that's iffy so I can't say for sure. It just had never crossed my mind to use anything other than the obvious online support channels. I posted in the forums which they SHOULD be monitoring (but obviously aren't), I opened up and submitted support ticket(s) with a calm demeanor and they included links to the solutions in this post and the post(s) it links to. Of course I tried to chat a couple times with no luck. I did my due diligence with the tools I had at the time. At some point they need to do their part and at least read and reply to a support ticket. Hell, no response is really necessary just fix it and when once every 3 or so months when I try to play MEA it'll actually work like it was sold to do.

    To my knowledge this is the only game in all Mass Effect  saga that I haven't played through at least once. I did my part and ponied up the cheese and they just can't be bothered to solve the problem as such that we don't have to chase people down at EA and make them keep their end of this transaction up.

    I'm ranting again, sorry about that...

  • holger1405's avatar
    holger1405
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @xXDevilDuckXx 

    I understand your frustration, and I don't disagree with any single point you make.

    But the matter of the fact is that this is not going to be solved if you not get in contact with EA.

    I saw this be solved many times before, so don't give up.

    As said, the Twitter rout seams to be the best option, and a throw away account is easy to make. 😉

    Good luck!

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