Hi all,
So I have the box from The Sims3 here before me along with the serial number since I bought it when it came out, but I can't seem to find my DVD anymore and I don't have it installed on my PC anymore.
I found this help page here https://help.ea.com/article/redeem-your-serial-code-in-origin where it read that the game must be registered via https://www.thesims3.com/registeragame.html. Problem is: I can't for the life of me stay logged in at that site. I go there, log in, go to "register a game" at the bottom of the page, and it'd always ask me to login once again. If I just go to the normal "login" link at the top of the page, it asks me to enter a serial number, a persona and what not. I enter the serial number from the game box, and oh surprise, it tells me the number is invalid. Clicking on the correspondent explanation link I see this error message also applies to serial codes that have already been used. Well of course I've already used that code. So, the question is: Is it actually still possible to get a digital copy of the very game I bought back then? Or am I forced by this godforsaken DRM-devil named Origin to resort to downloading a pirated copy - which btw would actually be my legal right here since I can prove I already purchased the original game!
Any help would still be gladly appreciated here.
Thank you,
Maylle
i bought my game from a yard sale and since i didnt have a recipt i couldnt get a new code
@Crossingpants5 Unfortunately, since you bought the game used, you're probably out of luck. EA doesn't allow games or codes to be transferred between accounts, even if the original owner has sold the game to someone else.
I was going to try the trick with finding the codes of my old laptop that I do have, and where I had ALL my expansions and packs installed. But the laptop in question is completely utterly dead, it will not react at all when I try to start it up. I don't know where any of my cases or discs are as it's been many years since my last purchase of a physical copy of the game (think last time was the Pets expansion in like 2012, so go figure...) I'm at my wits end as this loss means I can not install Pets expansion (and I think, Generations), I'm missing my 70's-90's pack, high-end loft pack and I really just don't know what to do. It doesn't feel right to have to pay full price for these things again as they aren't cheap by any means, especially not the expansions. For some reason I did not register all the games on my profile, guess because the website has always been moody and an outright pain in the backside so I avoided it for the longest of times. These days I only use Origin as I no longer have a DVD on laptop anyways. I'm searching high and low at home for my physical copies, but finding them is worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack... Receipt is impossible to find as well considering the amount of time that has passed since I purchased my physical copies of the game, I mean, we're talking at least about 7 years since my purchase of Pets, so there's just not a chance in the universe to find it.
Should I really have to just bite the lemon and re-purchase my missing things directly from Origin? ☹️
@bendyjenn I understand that your laptop is dead, but could you find someone to extract the hard drive (simple) and comb through the registry for the TS3 codes? I've never done this myself, so I don't know how it would go, but there's a possibility you could find the codes and add them to your account.
The other option is to wait for a sale. Origin offers TS3 at a discount occasionally, and so does Steam. In fact, during most Steam sales, the base game and packs are only $5 each. (There's also often a bundle with the base game and Pets for $7.50.) The catch is that you do need to buy the base game as well in Steam, but that would still be cheaper than paying full price via Origin. Steam provides a CD key for each purchase, which you can register in Origin the same way you would for a disc copy.
I don't know when the next Steam sale is going to be, but there has almost always been one in June or July. So if you can wait a couple of months, you can save some money.
