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spaghettinoose's avatar
spaghettinoose
11 years ago
Solved

"The license limit for this product has been reached."

So I just bought the Sims Seasons expansion after re-installing all of my games off Origin, and while I understand what this message means I'm not seeing any problems that are similar to mine. I fir...
pc
technical issues
  • spaghettinoose's avatar
    spaghettinoose
    11 years ago

    I knew that I would need to contact EA support on this and, as I stated, I know and understand what the message was saying, so that's not what I was asking. I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced the same problem under the strange circumstances. I suspected that my license limit had not TRULY been reached, namely because the error had appeared after fixing another separate problem I had been having (Disk Authentication Error!), and I was correct.

    I did indeed have to talk to EA customer support and I was pleasantly surprised at the response time and the help I received. Also, the man on the other end of the phone stayed on with me for 1h 10m without ever becoming irritated or short with me and, by the end of it all, had legitimately FIXED my problem. I had NO TROUBLE with the man and in case anyone is wondering what my problem was, I will explain.

    Turns out if you bought one or more games as a physical disc and installed them via the disc only to unistall them and then re-install them via Origin this message will come up. It's because Origin is trying to run the game off the code through Origin (the digital version) while your computer is trying to run it through the physical copies code. So to fix the problem I first had to unistall every game (which was a bummer, but worth it in the end) and then download THIS program to clean out old and unused files. By doing this it cleaned out the old file that my computer was trying to use to run the game and fixed my problem. Another IMPORTANT step is that I had to re-install the games in a SPECIFIC ORDER, which was the order in which the games were released. Super easy but apparently crucial. 

    And yes, the man from EA customer service sat through the entire thing with me up until the point where I started installing the games. He was freaking awesome. 

    So I hope that this could maybe help anyone who possibly has the same issues as I was having, because while I'm glad to have it all fixed 1h 10m is a loooong time to be on the phone with customer service.

LinuxPusher's avatar
LinuxPusher
8 years ago

I also have License Limit reached.

My problem with this is I have all Legitimate Games  "Medal of Honor" I bought on steam, 73 Games in total I believe.

I have Upgraded my system and had many  hard drive failures over the years.

The Motherboard remains the same,... so far the only part that does not seem to be disposable.

This Does NOT stop Pirates it just hurts Honest people trying to enjoy a game they bought.

I did the ea phone call, origin? download and got the same error"Limit", I got fed up and wiped it from my hard drive.

Might try again later, I am not interested in fixing games with special instructions or tweaks.

I just expect them to work.

roberta591's avatar
roberta591
Hero (Retired)
8 years ago

@LinuxPusher  For Sims 3 the game was released with SecuROM. This is the DRM that imposed an install limit. Windows and OS X no longer support SecuROM due to it's poor support. In 2012 EA changed the DRM to Origin. The game would continue to play unless you did a reinstall or added DLC. You need to download and install the Origin client and create an account. Then redeem the game code in Origin. If you already have the game installed you need to download and run the version 1.67 manual super patch. Once the game is at version 1.67, Origin will patch the game to version 1.69. This will disable and/or remove SecuROM and the game will no longer have an install limit. This also disables and/or removes SafeDisc and you no longer require a disc to play. Origin is a lot like Valve's Steam. Once the game is activated in Origin you can get the digital download version or the base game and expansion packs. Same process as above. super patch to version 1.67 if needed. You can not download the version 1.69 - you have to get it through Origin. I'm assuming that once you activate an EA game in Origin - Origin will patch the game to remove SecuROM. All the DLC has been upgraded to be used with the version 1.69 so the expansion packs and store items should work.

  • LinuxPusher's avatar
    LinuxPusher
    8 years ago

    Thank you I will try that at a later date.

    Cheers !

    • LinuxPusher's avatar
      LinuxPusher
      8 years ago

      Medal of Honor install number 6 ?

      I did a fresh install overnight 7+ hours.

      Used Origin only.

      It installed Punkbuster tho it's already installed for other games.

      it installed a few of Extra ( 3 digit number ) updates, I searched for the super you mentioned but in MOH  I did not find it, is it Sims specific ??

      I tried to play single player from Origin got the same Message License Limit just as it was launching.

      I could talk about the Veins in my face but I won't and the word Stroke came to mind Lol Robin Williams came to mind (Golf)

      I just don't think DRM should exist at all.

      Then I thought lets try Multiplayer well it works ,... then I thought Maybe SP will work now, No.

      I actually have 2 Licenses one for deluxe one for SP neither will work..

      DRM only stops Honest persons with paid for games.

      Thanks for trying.

      I will call Support again tomorrow but My download speed means they cannot wait to see if it works.

      I believe it is the "Origin Server" end that is at fault it happens when it goes online to check my license

      • roberta591's avatar
        roberta591
        Hero (Retired)
        8 years ago

        @LinuxPusherI don't know about Medal of Honor but the license limit is a message from SecuROM. The problem with this Windows and OS X no longer supports SecuROM. The patch I mentioned is Sims 3 specific. The Origin sims 3 1.69 patch deactivates/removes SecuROM from sims 3. Do you have MOH in Origin? Windows 10 never supported SecuROM and microsoft pushed out updates to older versions of Windows. I thought Steam sold DRM free games? I read a post from 2015 that EA will issue a new code if you are having issues with an old code (maybe?). The problem with SecuROM is/was it was never supported to fix problems. It was written and used before it was really tested. There used to be a license recovery program that you ran on the old computer to move the license to a new machine. I know/knew publishers can modify/roll back the license limit but if the publisher just start rolling back the limit that would nullify the purpose of having SecuROM so SecuROM lived on. I agree that DRM is a nuisance but until a better system is conceived I don't have an answer. I used to write a lot of utility type programs for public domain (haven't heard that in a LONG time) and I also wrote routines I have seen in some programs. Today I only write what I need. I know what it is like to produce a major game only to see projected profits never reached (not even close). The old saying stands I don't write the rules - I only play the game.

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