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puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
8 years ago

Re: Sims 3 expansions missing

@Cecil_Alcott  I'm not sure whether IP is showing up in your Origin library but not the launcher, or whether Origin itself thinks you don't own it.  Sometimes when the launcher doesn't recognize an installed game, rebooting your computer a couple of times will restore it.  But if htat doesn't work, the first step would be to clear Origin's cache, and the second step would be to uninstall and reinstall Origin only.  This would not affect your installed games.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/manually-uninstalling-origin/

If neither of these steps help, it's possible that your pack has been removed by EA.  This could be a mistake, but if you bought from an unauthorized third-party seller, the code could have been bad.  For a bit more than a year, EA has been systematically deactivating codes that were originally stolen or otherwise fraudulently obtained, even though the players had had no idea that there was anything wrong.  Whether it's a mistake or not, the only way to get this kind of thing sorted out is to contact EA customer support so that someone on that end can look at your account.  No one here can see your account details, much less change them.  It would be good to have any proof of purchase or ownership (photos of discs, cases, inserts, etc.; receipts) on hand for the chat.

https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

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  • Player_3rv1vuac's avatar
    Player_3rv1vuac
    8 years ago

    All of my packs are missing as well, I contacted EA and tried to get a solution, basically I bought them at Gamestop and because of that EA has invalidated the codes... They're telling me to purchase them through origin to solve these issues.. they cant verify that I actually bought them from Gamestop and I didn't think to keep my receipts after all these years 

    Ive tried using my original cd keys from the gamestop boxes and........... invalid keys. I did not even know that origin existed back when I purchased all of the packs and the original game if it even did and I have never had issues until I was required to boot up the games through origin now...... and well yea

    never buy anything from EA honest to god...... this is worse than the DRM anti piracy for Spore. I had to purchase that game 3 times because of some a hard drive failure, a video card burning out, and then finding out my motherboard was faulty and sending it through RMA. 

    Finally purchased Spore on steam and no matter how many computer upgrades or laptops I go through I no longer get SHAFTED by EA

  • Shannon4J's avatar
    Shannon4J
    8 years ago

    I'm sorry this happened to you!!  You can also buy The Sims 3 through Steam. Watch for their HUGE sales and get the Expansion Packs for $4.99 each!   Some might be a couple $$ more.  If you buy through Steam, which is on EA's list of authorized sellers, you can register and install them in Steam, or in Origin, but not both.   That's what I ended up doing to get the packs back in my game that I bought on eBay.  Too many save files were not usable if I didn't buy them back. ☹️  

    Hope you get it sorted out! 🙂

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    8 years ago

    @Player_3rv1vuac  Gamestop is in fact an authorized retailer for EA games, so you should have received valid codes.  The exception is if you originally bought the games used, in which case the original owner may have registered the codes before selling the discs.  Is it possible that you registered your games at the Sims 3 store at some point?  If so, then your codes would already be tied to your account, and you'd just have to use those account credentials in Origin to regain access to your packs.

    If you never registered your codes anywhere, you could try contacting EA support again.  Even without receipts, you could provide photos of your discs, cases, and inserts (with the codes printed on the backs) and ask another rep to help you.  There's no guarantee, but you could point out that Gamestop is on EA's own approved list of vendors:

    https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/where-to-buy-ea-games-v2/

    If you can't get anywhere with support either, feel free to post back here.  The other question is whether your base game disc was made before September 2012.  If so, you wouldn't need to use Origin at all to install from discs; your codes would be enough.

  • xboxbabe70's avatar
    xboxbabe70
    7 years ago
    @Shannon4J wrote:

    I'm sorry this happened to you!!  You can also buy The Sims 3 through Steam. Watch for their HUGE sales and get the Expansion Packs for $4.99 each!   Some might be a couple $$ more.  If you buy through Steam, which is on EA's list of authorized sellers, you can register and install them in Steam, or in Origin, but not both.   That's what I ended up doing to get the packs back in my game that I bought on eBay.  Too many save files were not usable if I didn't buy them back. ☹️  

    Hope you get it sorted out! 🙂

    Actually I believe you can only register them on your EA account, but you can redeem your code both on steam and origin, but you can only play them either on steam or origin.

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