@RexcaliburX If your friend used the codes before you then duplicate codes are being removed from the system as that is a violation of the EULA (end user license agreement) you agreed to the first time you played the game. When you buy the game you do not own the game - what you are paying for is a license to use the software. Like any license EA can (and is) revoking licenses for violations of TOS (terms of service). Prior to EA creating Origin, EA's activation code system was very "loose". IMO when Ebay sellers started selling unauthorized codes on a mass commercial way, EA started enforcing the TOS. Unfortunately sellers are beginning to learn how to sell in a way the owner's can not prevent the sellers from illegal sales (foreign sales for example). Having been a software author and a user I see this issue on both side of the fence. Today creating games is a large commercial endeavor where people get hired (and paid) - it is no more a couple of friends playing in a garage. The license for your Windows operating system is much the same. In the old days to reuse a Windows code you had to call a number and some nice lady would ask if the original computer is still functional. Everyone said the old computer was non-functional and the lady would re-activate the code to the new computer. Today the system is automated and depending what type of code you have (oem, student, commercial, etc) the system may or may not re-activate the code. Example - oem (original equipment manufacturer) can only be activated on one computer. When that computer dies the code dies with it. Back before DRM when a new computer game came out one person would buy it and at the next computer hobbyist meeting everyone had the game. This wasn't so bad as it kept it at a local level but when illegal distribution goes commercial on a world level the financial loss is much larger. hth
