origin has been the worst thing to happen to the sims. we used to be able to play wherever and whenever and now we gotta be shackled down by origin 24/7. so now here I am waiting for some stupid glitch to be fixed just so I can play. origin is a NIGHTMARE. what happened to us being able to just play the game without worrying about being online or not. some people could care less about online mode, we just wanna play. AGH. why cant it be an option to use it or not. we shouldn't be forced to use it.

I am not fond of origins either. Sometimes there will be problems because of origin. I have had to fix bugs by uninstalling then redownloading origin more times than I care to count. The game gets wonky when we aren't online.

I would have to say that one major factor that has encouraged the idea of Origin, (and uses/existance of other gaming platforms) is piracy. There's a lot of people who like to steal things by using torrent sites... rather than pay for it. This forces companies into a battle against piracy, and ideas such as Origin, product keys, and internet-connected gameplay becomes not so much a "want" but a "need" for companies as they try to protect their intellectual property.Also, for the companies, it becomes an advantage. As a player, I could argue that Origin is great because all my games are stored in one place, and I don't have to worry about losing them if my computer/harddrive crashes. Just get a new computer, log back onto Origin, and there they are.... all my games nice and safe. But for the gaming companies.... its much more of an assest. Its the one place where they know we will all go. Its the one place with just 1 advertisement they can reach all of us. And... the one place where they can fix/update our game without needing to chase us all around the internet...... I agree, Origin is a nightmare. For me, it's a contributing reason why I don't buy many games anymore. Everything is digital, and controled by some third party site. Origin/Steam for games, iTunes for music. I still have a PS2 console and games. I used to love buying new games, not only to play, but also to see added to my collection up on the shelf. It's like when I play the sims and I place a shelf to decorate with stuff. I did that in real life too. And I'd decorate some of my shelves with games and music. I can't remember the last time I bought music. I just go to youtube now and listen for FREE. But there was a time when i'd spend hundreds of dollars filling up my CD tray with music CDs. Same with games. But... those days are gone. Now, I just buy the odd game on Origin or Steam, and I don't buy music at all.But..... change is inevitable... we just have to deal with it.

"nerdfashion;c-17056429" wrote:You can play when you're not connected to the internet, you just have to start the game first. And, as Muzick said, it protects against piracy.That's the problem the OP is talking about. When Origin has problems it can trickle down to playing games. People were having issues getting their game library to launch. And if the player doesn't have the Sims 4 pinned to their task bar or know where to find the actual .exe for the game, it leaves them unable to play the game because Origin has issues. Or Origin wasn't kicking in enough to do what it needed to launch the game even in offline mode. I didn't try to play Sims 4 during the affected time period so I can't really say what the exact problem was.When I have internet problems I can't play my Mass Effect 3 saves because it can't verify that I own the DLC that are used in those saves. And I don't play the multiplayer. And I get pissed at EA for not letting me play my saves because of that. I shouldn't be punished for having internet issues just because of a small portion of players who pirate.Anti-piracy measures also need to make sure that they don't turn around and create more pirates due to people wanting to bypass the problems the anti-piracy measures create.

@Seera1024 I wouldn't use the term "small portion" when describing the piracy concern companies need to deal with. I trust they would use a different term to describe this group of people.Also, I don't like it when the stores I shop at increase the price tags on things I purchase to account for the lost merchandise encouraged by shoplifters... but hey. That's what happens.Your last statement just sounds like a ready-to-use excuse for torrent users to keep stealing things. It's great to be able to justify it I guess.

@nerdfashion Correction: it only makes piracy harder. It's not a 100% protection, that's impossible. Both TS3 and TS4 are/were pirated despite Origin.@muzickmage there were some games where the anti-piracy software had a large impact on performance, though I forgot which one it was. It can backfire. As for stores... where I live, they more often inflate the prices so discounts seem larger even when they drop just a bit below the real price, rather than make up for stealing (which is greatly limited by CCTV).I've seen a theory saying that the companies inflate the piracy just as the pirates deflate it. The true scope is likely to be somewhere in the middle. Probably because it's not possible to determine how many people who pirate a game actually play it - I knew people who pirated so much stuff it was physically impossible for them to play all of them even if they slept only 2 hours each day. Not to mention that very few games have any kind of free trial and/or demo (and demos were frequent in the 90s) so those who want to try a game before buying are often out of luck (and delivered to pirated by that lack of demo/trial). That's not just about gameplay/enjoyment but also performance. I am not advocating for piracy but there are ways the industry is contributing to that and the lack of trials is one of them, especially given the wide range of available hardware and possible compatibility issues (for those on older machines).Yes, digital distribution has significant advantages: not worrying about losing the physical copy, physical copies not taking precious space (and gathering dust on a shelf), or a bit of ecology (no packaging being made, no need to transport the CD/DVD to a store and then to the user). On the other hand, technical troubles with connectivity or the launcher are a pain if it blocks you from playing a single-player game.As for yesterday's trouble, I was fortunately already in-game when it happened and so, apart from a few messages about Origin disconnecting, I was unaffected.

Why origin.. | EA Forums

janyses
New Observer
6 years ago
"Seera1024;c-17056462" wrote:
"nerdfashion;c-17056429" wrote:
You can play when you're not connected to the internet, you just have to start the game first. And, as Muzick said, it protects against piracy.

That's the problem the OP is talking about. When Origin has problems it can trickle down to playing games. People were having issues getting their game library to launch. And if the player doesn't have the Sims 4 pinned to their task bar or know where to find the actual .exe for the game, it leaves them unable to play the game because Origin has issues. Or Origin wasn't kicking in enough to do what it needed to launch the game even in offline mode. I didn't try to play Sims 4 during the affected time period so I can't really say what the exact problem was.

When I have internet problems I can't play my Mass Effect 3 saves because it can't verify that I own the DLC that are used in those saves. And I don't play the multiplayer. And I get plum at EA for not letting me play my saves because of that. I shouldn't be punished for having internet issues just because of a small portion of players who pirate.

Anti-piracy measures also need to make sure that they don't turn around and create more pirates due to people wanting to bypass the problems the anti-piracy measures create.

Plus, the "it protects against piracy" argument is garbage. Nothing protects against piracy, because hackers eventually find a way around the protection. It's always the legitimate users who suffer.
Scobren
6 years ago
"IceyJ;c-17270610" wrote:

Plus, the "it protects against piracy" argument is garbage. Nothing protects against piracy, because hackers eventually find a way around the protection. It's always the legitimate users who suffer.

Yeah still hearing about Simmers bragging about pirating Sims 4 and all the DLC. Origin doesn't protect against it and honestly the most vulnerable games client out there. I have hear far too often Origin accounts getting hacked and not recovered.
aprilrose07
6 years ago
I really dislike Origin. Everytime I want to play, Origin decides to do some stupid update.

I miss the good old days where we didn't have to worry about anything.
SEREFRAS
Seasoned Veteran
6 years ago
I miss the old school ways of PC games that didn't have to depend on the Internet.
Writin_Reg
6 years ago
"SERVERFRA;c-17273770" wrote:
I miss the old school ways of PC games that didn't have to depend on the Internet.

That doesn't bother me as downloading a game that plays perfectly on my machine is a God send - not all of us like to run off to a store everytime we want a new game - and the internet - if you have a good one is pretty perfect most of the time. I never have issues with my internet and always have my game 10 minutes after it comes out. I like the instant gratification of that. It is really to each their own. I cannot go into stores so for some of us that is what is best for us.
invisiblgirl
6 years ago
Usually, I can play even if Origin isn't connecting (or if my internet connection is down). Yesterday was a problem because you had to sign in to Origin in order to get to the game, and that wasn't working. I don't usually have to sign in - I always check 'stay signed in' when I do.

Generally, I understand the need to protect the game from piracy, as long as it's not too intrusive. And I actually do find Origin to be a convenience in terms of buying DLC and installing it. I was not a happy camper yesterday, though, at least until I was finally able to get into my game.
OldeSimsFan
New Traveler
6 years ago
Even when not using it to play, or not even on internet?
MsPigglyPooh
6 years ago
"Cinebar;c-17061558" wrote:
"Oldeseadogge;c-17061541" wrote:
Even when not using it to play, or not even on internet?

Download Process Explorer to find out who dials out to send your data to somewhere.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

I downloaded it but I'm not sure what I'm looking at hahaha
Lonewolf1044
Seasoned Spectator
6 years ago
"TomasGrizzly;c-17056569" wrote:
@nerdfashion
Correction: it only makes piracy harder. It's not a 100% protection, that's impossible. Both TS3 and TS4 are/were pirated despite Origin.
@muzickmage there were some games where the anti-piracy software had a large impact on performance, though I forgot which one it was. It can backfire. As for stores... where I live, they more often inflate the prices so discounts seem larger even when they drop just a bit below the real price, rather than make up for stealing (which is greatly limited by CCTV).
I've seen a theory saying that the companies inflate the piracy just as the pirates deflate it. The true scope is likely to be somewhere in the middle. Probably because it's not possible to determine how many people who pirate a game actually play it - I knew people who pirated so much stuff it was physically impossible for them to play all of them even if they slept only 2 hours each day. Not to mention that very few games have any kind of free trial and/or demo (and demos were frequent in the 90s) so those who want to try a game before buying are often out of luck (and delivered to pirated by that lack of demo/trial). That's not just about gameplay/enjoyment but also performance. I am not advocating for piracy but there are ways the industry is contributing to that and the lack of trials is one of them, especially given the wide range of available hardware and possible compatibility issues (for those on older machines).

Yes, digital distribution has significant advantages: not worrying about losing the physical copy, physical copies not taking precious space (and gathering dust on a shelf), or a bit of ecology (no packaging being made, no need to transport the CD/DVD to a store and then to the user). On the other hand, technical troubles with connectivity or the launcher are a pain if it blocks you from playing a single-player game.
As for yesterday's trouble, I was fortunately already in-game when it happened and so, apart from a few messages about Origin disconnecting, I was unaffected.

For some it was Securom back in the day and there is various anti-piracy tools used today and I think Denvu or Denvo is now being used by some developers.
valearci33
6 years ago
I search for months a solution but if I understood right, there's no a way to play The sims 4 without Origin? I really wish I could play the sims 4 as the sims 2.. without have to worried if one day origin will be not available.
I have some questions, I will try to ask.

1) Can I install the Sims 4 also in my laptop to go in the house at the beach I want to take the sims 4 with me. But my copy of The sims 4 is already installed on my PC here. What can I do?

2) I wish I could play the sims 4 always but I don't trust the 'software ' games , I always prefer the 'phisical copy' (DVD). What if between 6 or 7 years , Origin will be not supported or will change rules or anything else, and I will be not able to launch the Sims 4 anymore? (It already happened with other certain games and items that I've purchased by download and suddenly I could not play it anymore. I'm a player that last in long time. I'm not a player that not even in 10 years I forget to play The sims4. From time to time, I want always play my old games. (I still play a lot of my old games I own, so the same with the sims 4). I dont trust origin, and also, one day origin could be updates and it will reach a point it will be compatible with new pc systems, and maybe who is poor like me (that have always old pcs) it may have problems to launch the old (if still will exist) version of Origins. I mean.. I really don't like to play games virtually and that I can't have the DVD and install it when I wish on my pcs.
Also expansions, that are just virtual... i must confess that I don't feel entusiastic at all, to purchase something that I don't have in my hands (Im from '80 generation so I grow up with 'phisicals' items... i really wish to launch the sims 4 without origin... sigh..

Ok, I finished.. sorry for long message... ^^'