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[holger1405]

@angry_roadie No it's not necessary to be online to play the DLCs, (To download them of course, but not to play them.) Set Origin to offline mode and try, if that not works disable your internet connection, and the game will run with the DLCs installed.   

[angry_roadie]

Ah, then I probably misunderstood some of the other posts here and elsewhere...I will do this then, thanks for the advice!

[Itchybrother2]

Spot on Holger1405. I pulled the RJ45 cable out of my computer and the demo ran fine (you must disconnect from your computer, not in Origin).

[holger1405]

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Itchybrother2 schrieb:

Spot on Holger1405. I pulled the RJ45 cable out of my computer and the demo ran fine (you must disconnect from your computer, not in Origin).

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Glad it works. Have fun.

[lefruitygibbon]

EA, please face it, you do not know what the hell you are doing. I thought Origin might be worthwhile alongside Steam, but for a company of your size you are completely and utterly useless. After having played through Mass Effect 1 & 2 several years ago, I thought I'd give the demo for 3 a shot and most likely buy it. These work arounds of shutting down firewalls, turning off your router or going offline in Origin are extremely poor form and amateurish. I can see now why EA has begun to develop the reputation it has currently. Here is what your user base wants, install game, click on the little desktop shortcut or the one in Origin and play the f***ing thing. Is that really too much to ask?

I can't believe people are paid to be so useless in attempting to justify their job by sticking crappy tinsel and lint to something that just doesn't need it. If I want to go online I should be able to select that option in the menu. You're not an Indie company putting an unfinished Alpha/Beta out there trying to work through problems.

I thought a word like 'simple' would be one the people running your organization would know by now.

They're GAMES. If I want to play chess I don't really want to carve the pieces myself (although that would be rather more satisfying than trying to get into some female space aliens' knickers)

"You want workin' on boy" - Jake the Poacher.

[holger1405]

@lefruitygibbon

There are no workarounds, the servers for the Demo are down.

You still can play the demo if you disable your internet connection.

If you consider that we are talking about a over 4 years old game, the fact that the servers for the Demo (and only the Demo) are down is a completely normal thing.

EA decided not to remove the Demo so people still could test the game before they buy it and imho that is a pro customer decision and not a bad one. 

[lefruitygibbon]

Reading back my comment I sound like a bit of an arse, but really, why should it want to connect you to the internet in the first place if you simply want to play solo? Sometimes playing a game is a way to pass some time while you're using the internet in the first place. Anyway, it did work and I'll give the full game a shot at somepoint. I shall make Shepard less ugly this time.

[holger1405]

@lefruitygibbon

I understand that it is frustrating, and I agree that there should be a notification about the issue.

But in our gaming world where every dollar counts you will simply not find a company that puts working-hours into the Demo of a 4 years old game.

[SplatManDK]

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@holger1405 wrote:

@lefruitygibbon

I understand that it is frustrating, and I agree that there should be a notification about the issue.

But in our gaming world where every dollar counts you will simply not find a company that puts working-hours into the Demo of a 4 years old game.

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Just in case anybody else finds this thread: Demo? What f***ing Demo?

I purchased just about every DLC in existance for ME1, ME2 and ME3. I am a prime Mass Effect customer for sure! Today, August 12. 2016 I am unable to play the single player campaign because the servers are down (same message as OP). The notifies me that the DLC can't be verified, so I can't play that. What it really should have said is that I can't play the game at all - because since my save games contain data points from the purchased DLC, the game simply refused to load the saved games.

I am extremely - extremely - dissapointed to be unable to pay my legitimately purchased game due to overzealous DRM checks and non-functioning servers. I never pirate software (I am an IT developer myself so I respect immaterial property) but I will still note that this situation is a sad example of everything that is wrong with DRM. As a paying customer there is absolutely NOTHING more frustrating and unacceptable than being unable to play my legitimately purchased games.

As a "gamerdad" with 4 kids and a full-time BI developer job my time is precious. I don't have the luxury of playing computer games whenever I want. I have small windows of carefully planned gaming time. Being unable to use my collection of PC games when I choose is a massive inconvenience.

Add to that the numerous other issues I have had with EA/Origin over the years, and I am starting to seriously consider if spending money on Origin games is worth the trouble. I am *NOT* a happy customer, and it's outright scary to see that issues like these have gone unfixed or unaddressed for so many years.

There are numerous technical ways this situation could be avoided. Like issuing digital certificates that last for several days or weeks before a re-check of DLC is required. Disabling checks for games that are old, to ensure loyal fans are not bugged with moronic situations such as these, approving certain accounts as "gold" accounts and allowing them to play games for a limited period without DRM checks... in fact, there are so many possible ways to fix this, I am tempted to apply for the job as Technical Director at Origin and help EA fix this miserable mess (dear EA admin, send me a PM with the details for the application if you read this - your managers seem to be in dire need of help).

I feel like I purchased a car, and three years later the vendor decided I can't drive it today "because our DRM servers are down".

With all possible respect: Are you guys freakin' serious ????

:-(

[holger1405]

@SplatManDK

You can play the Single Player Game at any time you want, even if the servers are down.

Set Origin to offline mode, and if that not works, disable your internet connection completely and the game will run with the DLCs enabled.

The only limitation to that rule is that you need to login with Origin to your account at least once every 4 weeks. (I 'am not entirely certain if it is 4 weeks or a even longer time. I will tag @EA_Nils to make sure.)