Sims 3 won't launch, Origin says membership expired but I never had one. [ Edited ]

[nycbigl]

Last night I was happily playing my Sims 3 game just fine with no problem. But today when I tried to upload the launcher it kept crashing within seconds.

I tried doing the trick where I go offline on Origin and turn of my WiFi on my PC plus making sure all of my caches were cleaned out and restarting my computer several times. But nothing worked. Then I finally noticed that there was a notice on my Origin pop up saying, "Your Origin Membership has expired." I have NEVER payed for a membership on Origin, EVER. The ONLY EA game I have ever played is The Sims. The notice not only appears on the very top of the "Origin Access" page but it also shows up in "My Game Library" right on top of my Sims 3 game icon. When I click on that message that is on the icon it it takes me to a page that tells me to "...Renew the membership or buy the game to continue playing." Like I said, I have NEVER payed for a membership on Origin before and I have OWNED my Sims 3 game for 7 years now.

WHY is Origin asking me to pay for a membership just so I can play a one person game like the Sims 3 (which I already own) when I have never had to pay before? Is this a bug? My EA "Player Control" page says I'm Unlimited. Am I not understanding that right? Is Origin saying I have to pay again for my Sims 3 (which I have owned for years) every single month just to play by myself? If this is the case then I want ALL of my money back including the money I spent on expansion packs, stuff packs and Sims point over the years. I didn't buy the Sims 3 just for a limit time use. That is not what the box said when I first purchased the CDs in a store 7 years ago.

I don't get it.

Can someone please tell me that I am wrong and overreacting and clear this confusion up for me? Is this a bug in Origin? And please tell me how I can fix it and get the launcher to stop crashing.

Thank You for taking the time to read this. Any answer will be much appreciated.

[puzzlezaddict]

@nycbigl  Do you have two-factor authentication on your account?  If you had it as of October 31st of last year, you were automatically given a free month of Origin Access Basic through an EA promotion.  People didn't have a choice to opt in; it just appeared on their accounts.  It's possible that Origin also "upgraded" your copy of Sims 3 to the Access version automatically, without asking you.  (This feature could have been designed better.)

You can try to fix the issue yourself.  Open your Origin library, right-click on the Sims 3 icon, and select Uninstall.  Among the choices, you should see the option to revert your game to the non-Access version.  This works at least some of the time, although it's more reliable for newer games.  Be sure to back up your Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts before trying this, just in case something weird happens.

If reverting your game doesn't work, or you don't have the option, you'll need to contact EA customer support to get this sorted out.  Fortunately, since this is an annoyingly common issue, a support rep should have no trouble fixing it for you.

https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

[nycbigl]

Hello puzzleaddict and Happy New Year!

I am the only person on my Origin EA account. Plus I use only one email for this very same account.

My jaw and heart just dropped when you suggested to uninstall and reinstall my Sims game. That would mean I would also have to install all of my stuff packs, world and expansion packs plus all of the store items I have purchased over the 7 years and all of the CCs. Last time I reinstalled my game it took me one full day to reinstall the game with the expansion, stuff pack and worlds. Then the next day was spent downloading the store contents. And then the following few days was the CCs. No fun. LOL!

Anyway, I am in DM with EA Help on Facebook right now. They said, "This is an unusual one." So lets see if they can help.

[puzzlezaddict]

@nycbigl  I didn't mean to actually uninstall the game; among the options is a simple "revert" that doesn't require truly uninstalling anything.  And by the way, the point of moving your game folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts is that if you do ever need to uninstall, you can just put the folder back after a reinstall.  All your saves, installed worlds, custom content, etc. would be right back where they were before you uninstalled.  But like I said, a real uninstall isn't necessary here.

I hope support can sort this out for you.  It's not unusual at all for someone who's had Access on their account to have a game blocked.  And having two-factor authentication is pretty common these days.

Happy New Year to you too.

[nycbigl]

EA Facebook Help is working with me right now. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it will all be OK.

It they still have issues on their end then I will seriously take your advice to mind. Glad to hear that I wouldn't have to reinstall everything all over again. That would save me from pulling my hair out of my head. LOL!

[nycbigl]

YES! EA Help on Facebook helped me to fix it. My game is up and running again! WOOHOO!

After he checked out my account and worked on it on his end for quite a while, he then told me to not only clean out the caches and restart the PC like I usually do but this time to go to...

"Origin game repair and see if that helps. You can do this by going to your game library, right-clicking on The Sims 3 and selecting the repair option."

And that did it! It's finally up and running. YEAH!

I had no idea that repair option even existed. You learn something new everyday. LOL!

Thank you EA Help on Facebook!!! You Rock!