@sammy4eva If the game is now working on your main computer when you select a new save, then the issue is probably (but not definitely) the main save. Does it help to play with your computer offline? You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet connection before pressing Play. This is more of a test than a solution, and the outcome will be useful information either way.
So, new update, trying this idea has brought up this lovely new error saying that my game license has expired.
I have removed all mods that I downloaded a couple days before this whole string of events even started. Which seems to have at least made these issues run smoother and faster.
Looking into the EC:204 which is a known issue from back in 2023, I have already run the EAUpdater to see if this was the issue, but this has yeilded the same issue of not being able to to validate because of no internet, trying without wifi on still says that my license is still expired. More screenshots of before the no internet issue if this helps at all
and what follows when trying to put in the product key info.
I hope this will help if you have any ideas.
@sammy4eva Does this happen when your computer is online too, or just offline? I ask because sometimes game ownership can't be validated while offline, although that shouldn't happen at all (and doesn't with Sims 3 under normal circumstances) unless it's been too long since you last launched it. But that would be weeks or months, not a few days.
If this happens with your computer and the EA App online, click Windows key-R and enter this in the run box:
%ProgramData%\Electronic Arts\EA Services
Move the License folder to the desktop, and test Sims 3 again. Don't delete the folder entirely if you have other EA games installed that you might want to play. The data inside License should be restored the next time you launch each game, but if it's not working for Sims 3, it might not work for the other games either.
For the first question, it happens with different messages online and offline. For offline, the EA app says that my license has expired and to go back online to renew it with the error code 204. as seen here.
While online is this problem after signing in to put in my product key(s).
I tried to do the "%ProgramData%\Electronic Arts\EA Services" and I see the folder is updated every time I try to launch the game, but when I look in the folder it is comepletely empty. I only moved it once and it didn't fix the issue. In fact it just made a new license folder but still with nothing in it.
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the games and addons, tried uninstalling and reinstalling the EA launcher, using the launcher to "repair" my sims games, used CCleaner to fix any possible issues.
@sammy4eva Let's put aside the offline stuff for now and only test with your computer online. If you can, try a different network, for example your phone set as a mobile hotspot. Make sure it's using data, not your home wifi.
If that doesn't help, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there. Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address. (Just keep declining the request.) You'll be able to try to launch Sims 3 without reinstalling anything, but your saves and other user data won't be available. That's fine for the purposes of this test.
