Sims Medieval Invalid Serial Code. Cannot Play Game without!

[Sauvigeau]

After updating my Mac OS to El Capitan, Sims Medieval kept crashing so I thought I would uninstall and reinstall the game. Huge mistake. Cannot get past the activate content message, and no the setting the clock back to 2011 doesn't work. I've tried installing it with the CD patch and the download patch (originally bought with the CD but lost it long ago and have only used the download on Origin ever since) and neither work. Have been (trying) to update to 2.0.114. I do not have the Pirates expansion. Does anyone have any insight into fixing this? I swear I have searched every corner of the internet trying to solve this and can't find anything. 

[Tremayne4260]

You probably will need to move the Sims Medieval folder (Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims Medieval) to your desktop and restart the game to allow it to generate a new folder. Don't worry, your saves will be safe. This has to be done with Sims 3 & 4 as well. Once the game restarts, you can add your saves back in.

[Maikuh93]

I had a similar problem. After buying the Sims Medieval and the Pirates&Nobles game on Origin for my Mac, I couldn't start the game because the opening menu said

something about launch failure, a problem many people talked about on this forum as well. After downloading the patch that problem was solved though. 

But then as I tried to start the game again I came across the problem with not being able to activate the game or content. 

I tried setting the year to 2011, but that didn't work either. Then I tried starting it again after moving the folder, but that didn't work either. 

Any ideas how I can still get this game working?

[Tremayne4260]

What kind of Mac are you running the game on and what version of the OS are you running?

[Maikuh93]

I've got a MacBook Air, OS X, Version 10.9.5

[KingfoxNinja]

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@EA_Francois wrote:

@Shineeoneworld

@enjolina

@germy12000

@seanhenry98

@ravenksm

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

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

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Please let your support staff know that if they tell the customer to set their clock to 2011, they then might not see any chat messages from aforementioned customer in the chat afterward. This is particularly annoying if the support representative keeps on saying things like "how's it going" and "are you still there" while the customer is describing new and different ways that the activation fails in extreme detail. Ultimately the representative ended the chat session, saying I wasn't responding, and the expansion remains unactivated.

[Tremayne4260]

Very strange. And you've contacted EA customer support to supply you with a new code?

[sharnieg]

Has anyone had any luck or news since? Have just purchased a new Macbook and decided to reinstall, still getting the activation error...

[Maikuh93]

I did get a new code from EA customer service, but that didn't work either. 

Customer support was kind of lost on what to do, so they

adviced me to try again when one of the specialists was available.

Once I've gotten a hold of one of them I'll post any useful info here.

Facing another simsless evening...

[Tremayne4260]

I'm wondering if this isn't the same problem that many people have with the new Macs in the graphics card may not be recognized. I do have Sims Medieval, but I have never registered it with Origin or did I purchase it though Origin. I bought it directly from Amazon.