An update for anyone who's following this post in hope of a solution:
After poking EA for several weeks they have finally responded. They have requested both UOTrace and DXDIAG logs from me and eventually they said:
"Thank you for updating this support request. [i]
[/i]After having tried all possible resolutions for this query, we have decided to escalate this to our higher support department for further assistance. Please note that a higher support representative will contact you through email at the earliest, however, the response time may be delayed if the contact flow is high.[i]
[/i]We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced thus far and truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation on this matter. [i]Please feel free to write us if you have any other queries or concerns by visiting at http://ea.help.com"
[/i]
So my advice to everyone who has tried multiple solutions and still gets "Mass Effect server unavailable at this time ...": continue to poke EA (I have made 10 cases before they have responded counting from my first one in September) and *fingers crossed* they will contact you soon enough.
In addition I'm listing the solutions I have tried just as a summary. Who knows, maybe someone will find help in it
(listed in no particular order)
1. reinstalling the game completely (including removal of registry files)
2. reinstalling Origin completely (including removal of registry files)
3. repairing and updating the game through Origin
4. disabling both firewall and anti-virus
5. going to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc to delete entries ending with ea.com (I had none)
6. purging the BioWare Mass Effect 3 folder located in my Documents and letting Origin repopulate it (don't forget to turn off Cloud Storage in this case)
7. running both Origin and ME3 as administrator (I am the solo admin of my laptop)
8. running the following steps
Hold down the Windows key and press R
At the Run command, type cmd and press enter
type ipconfig /flushdns and press enter
Type ipconfig /registerdns and press enter
Type ipconfig /release and press enter
Type ipconfig /renew and press enter
Type netsh winsoc reset and then press enter
Restart the computer
9. Origin option "keep up to date" has been checked since the first installation
10 power cycled my modem
11. setting to "manual" and disabling UPnP Device Host together with SSDP (this by using Run and typing "services.msc")
Topics that I have found most usefull (/best explanations):
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/344/index/13118652/1
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/8239036.page
http://social.bioware.com/forums/forum/1/topic/344/index/9708768/3
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/344/index/12365960/2
Good luck
To any EA representatives: I hope that people like me can continue to count on your support and assistance concerning EA products. Hopefully the reaction time will improve since I'm by far not the only one who has been waiting for several weeks for any kind of reaction (while EA promises to answer within 24hours on their support site).
In theory this post may be closed but please do not delete it, it might help people who are still searching.
