I need help, and I am very, very frustrated. I have spoken with customer support several times. They have had me to uninstall, re-install, and have switched out my games twice, and still when I go to play my game I get an error.

When I go to play Sims Medieval, I am prompted to enter my game product code. When I do so, it tells me the Activation Failed, serial entered is invalid. I have copied and pasted the numbers, and have manually entered them. I have the downloaded version of the game, which means that once I download and install my game, my product is already registered. 

I don't know what to do, accept ask for my money back, and I don't want to do that because I really want to play this game. I love the sims, but this is very annoying, and upsetting. 

Also, I stayed on hold for a tech support person when the young man who called me back could not help me for 58 minutes, when the wait was only to be 5-8mins, then I got hung up on, and still no one has called me back. I feel because it is closing time for them,  though I've been trying to get this solved since early this morning. 

Can someone, anyone help me with this isssue please?

I'm wondering if this is the answer, a Sony SecuROM issue?

I'm wondering if this is the answer, a Sony SecuROM issue?

Original message (Works on PC)

@Shineeoneworld

@enjolina

@germy12000

@seanhenry98

@ravenksm

Hey guys, we have a workaround that should let you bypass the issue and get playing:

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1. Open Date/Time Preferences
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2. Change the year to 2011 (not sure if other previous years would work).
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3. Launch the game again and activate.
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4. Quit the game and correct the date/time.
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5. Launch game again.
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Update #1 (Mac specific) 

Information request. 

Update #2 (Mac specific) 

Hi guys,

Sorry for taking so long to come back to you. Thanks to your help we have identified the core issue of the problem and we are now working on a potential solution. The good news is it is not necessary to send us your files anymore (Big kudos to all the players who shared their log files with us). The not so good news is that we don’t know when the issue will be fixed for good.

From the outside it looks like a simple enough problem but it turned out to be much more complicated than we thought. We understand how frustrating the situation is and we truly appreciate your patience. We’ll keep you updated.

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NOTE: IF NONE OF THE SOLUTION ABOVE WORK FOR YOU PLEASE CONTACT SUPPORT IN ORDER TO ASK FOR A REPLACEMENT OR A REFUND.

These are the windows that appear upon opening the game, the prompt to enter the serial number and after entering the serial number,

These are the windows that appear upon opening the game, the prompt to enter the serial number and after entering the serial number,

I am having the same problem. Very frustrating as I love The Sims and how have I only just discovered Medieval!! My favourite era. Anyway, I tried changing the date, downloaded a patch so I can actually see the game menu properly, but now I'm stuck on activation.

I don't even know if I'm entering the right code! I purchased on Origin download for Mac the deluxe pack which includes the Pirates & Nobles extension, and I have a code for both the original Medieval game and the P&N extensions, but those weren't accepted. I also have a code for the special content but a) it says not to use that and b) that doesn't work anyway...I'm at a loss!!

If I'm just entering the wrong code, can someone help me locate where it might be?

Otherwise....I'm frustrated and pretty stuck, this sounded like fun!

I am having the same problem. Very frustrating as I love The Sims and how have I only just discovered Medieval!! My favourite era. Anyway, I tried changing the date, downloaded a patch so I can actually see the game menu properly, but now I'm stuck on activation.

I don't even know if I'm entering the right code! I purchased on Origin download for Mac the deluxe pack which includes the Pirates & Nobles extension, and I have a code for both the original Medieval game and the P&N extensions, but those weren't accepted. I also have a code for the special content but a) it says not to use that and b) that doesn't work anyway...I'm at a loss!!

If I'm just entering the wrong code, can someone help me locate where it might be?

Otherwise....I'm frustrated and pretty stuck, this sounded like fun!

I had the same problem with SimCity 2013. Unfortunately, it is a problem with EA and will have to be dealt with through their customer service. 😢

I had the same problem with SimCity 2013. Unfortunately, it is a problem with EA and will have to be dealt with through their customer service. 😢

Waited a week to hear back from support, and then they just suggested all of the basic troubleshooting steps I'd already tried with them. They're just spinning their wheels on this issue.

At this point in time, there is nothing further I can suggest to try. 😢

They just asked me to get an Origin Error Report.

That website reads: Note, Origin Error Reporting is only available on PC at this time.

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that Sims Medieval won't be playable on a Mac anytime soon. They really should pull it from the store instead of letting people continue to spend money on an unusable product.

I think the problem comes in when they try to \"force\" the game to open through Origin. The game wasn't designed to be played connected to the internet or Origin.

They haven't used Cider since Sims 3 which is another kettle of fish. 

Hi all.

I have the same issue as everyone else, and my troubleshooting failed like everyone else, also on a Mac. They need to find a way to bypass the activation process, it sounds like uninstalling origin is the only hopeful fix, but others have reported that this hasn't helped.

EA / Origin just needs to hot-patch this.

EA support team are less helpful than my latest bowel movement and just hang-up on me after their suggestion for uninstalling and reinstalling failed. They clearly have never resolved this issue, so im not sure what makes them qualified to be on the support side.

TLDR - hot-patch is the only solution, get on that and comp us for this *ty purchase, while also giving us access to play. Wasted so many of my hours.

-Frustrated purchaser

Okay. I had the EXACT issue going on and it was extremely frustrating. However, I DID find a way around it but I don't know if this will work for everyone but you need to be careful when doing this (also, I downloaded a digital version from Origin) BUT I did NOT download Nobles & Pirates AND I am using OS X El Capitan 10.11.1

Also, this process allows you to bypass the launcher and head straight into the game so when you open TSM the game will launch immediately without a launcher.

So here is how I did it

1. Patch updated to version 1.1.10.00001 (I don't know if this will work with 2.0.114.00107).
2. Go to the Sims Medieval file through locating it by going to Applications/The Sims Medieval (through the Finder).
3. Right-click on it and select \"Show Package Contents\".
4. Open the \"Contents\" folder.
5. There should be a file name info.plist. (MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A BACKUP COPY ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T REMOVE ORIGINAL FILE!)
6. Open the info.plist file and scroll down to the line after <key>CedegaGameName</key>
7. The final bit of the line will say TSMLauncher.exe OR SMLauncher.exe (not so sure but check!)
8. Change the bit in #7 to TSM.exe ONLY and ensure that you do not amend any other part of the file.
9. Save if applicable and quit.

 Now launch The Sims Medieval - and let me know how it goes! 

-Happy Simming! <3

P.S. I would appreciate an XP if this has worked!

When opening the game it always asked for an activation but after this process it wouldn't. I am not sure if it is because of what I did or because it is not at its latest update.

Oh okay, I guess I will avoid updating the patch to v2.0.114 and installing the Nobles & Pirates otherwise I will end up stuck with the activation since now everything is working fine for me. Well, I thought this would help but oh well! Thanks for letting me know 🙂

OMG!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

It works perfectly for me. But seriously, even EA support didn't even recommend me this. It was really frustrating until I found this solution!!

You're the BEST! ❤️❤️❤️

exact same boat as you all. Just got my first Mac computer yesterday as a damn Christmas gift and downloaded Medieval Deluxe as I've always wanted to play it. How disappointing that they're putting out games that just plain don't work.

Its really disappointing. Even Origin needed a \"fix\" to run. I hope they're working on a fix and won't just take the game down. I don't want to ask for a refund I want to play!!!! And obviously many others still want to play it, a google search yields tons of other threads over the internet with people having the same issue. Its ridiculous that the serial doesn't work on a game rightfully bought and downloaded.

Please check out the post from EA and PM the information requested to EA Zoe.

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@kingfoxninja wrote:
How? How would we PM the files to Zoe? I don't have the option to attach files in PMs, and Zoe hasn't replied to my PMs asking for clarification.

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Same problem here. I also pmed to ask how to attach the files. As I play sims 4, my origins log is huge to copy/paste

I'm having the same issue trying to attach the Origin Client Logs. I tried copy/pasting but mine is too long to allow me to send the message.

Does anyone know how to uninstall the Pirates and Nobles expansion pack on a Mac? I had been successfully running Sims Medieval using a disc on my Mac with no problems. I bought the expansion pack through a digital code on Amazon and have been stalled on the screen to activate the game, similarly to everyone else. At this point, I've tried and failed to actually connect to a service representative from EA and just want to play Sims Medieval while I wait for this whole issue to get sorted out. If there's a way to save the download so I don't have to repurchase the pack later, that would be great. I have no experience with downloads through Origin, so I'm not sure if this is a legitimate concern or not but I hate that I threw away $20 on a game that won't work. 

@ef839 I'm afraid that's not possible - I had the same thing and straight away uninstalled. I think it might be an update but anyway, it wouldn't let me play SM even once uninstalling ☹️

If you'd like to remove it anyway, there's a program in the sims medieval folder on your mac (where you installed the game) called Sims Medieval Uninstaller. Run that and it'll give you the option to uninstall just Pirates and Nobles. 🙂