ROUND 2 - EA ORIGIN IS A SCAM - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS WEBSITE

Thank you for choosing EA. A representative will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with 'Brian'

Brian:
Thank you for contacting Origin Help. My name is Brian. How may I assist you today?

you:
Hi Brian

Brian:
First and last name please.

you:
Where did you go?

you:
Lxxxx Cxxx

Brian:
Hpwdy.

you:
I waited and waited and you never came back

you:
What did my DXDIAG tell you?

Brian:
I'm not sure. Did you speak to me or another agent?

you:
You

you:
Unless there are multiple Brians working at 3:48 AM

Brian:
What was the last thing I chated to you?

you:
You can read it here. It was about my Sims Medieval not patching

you:
http://eaorigin.blogspot.com/

Brian:
Thank you hold while I read over your Issue please.

<TEN MINUTES GO BY>


Brian:
System requirements for sims medieval

Brian:

Brian:
•1.5 GB RAM

Brian:
•A 256 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

Brian:
•Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Brian:
•At least 5.3 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved ga

Brian:
You going to need a new video card to play the Sims.

you:
lol

Brian:
Your PC is under requirements.

you:
Uhh no it isn't

Brian:
Is there any thing I can help you with?

you:
My video card is well over what this game needs to run

you:
I have an ATI 5450 with 512 MB DDR3 RAM

Brian:
Once agin what is your game doing to where you can't play. I'm sorry I do not remember discussing the matter with you.

you:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601 Other OS Description Not Available OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name MOO-PC System Manufacturer Acer System Model Aspire M3400 System Type x64-based PC Processor AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 820 Processor, 2800 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. P01-A2, 4/21/2010 SMBIOS Version 2.6 Windows Directory C:\Windows System Directory C:\Windows\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2 Locale United States Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514" User Name Moo-PC\Moo Time Zone Central Daylight Time Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB Total Physical Memory 5.98 GB Available Physical Memory 3.10 GB Total Virtual Memory 12.0 GB Available Virtual Memory 7.96 GB Page File Space 5.98 GB Page File C:\pagefile.sys

you:
I can play with the 1.3 patch but when I try to get the latest patch it tells me the game isn't installed.

Brian:
Hold please.

you:
So I can;t play with the 2.0 patch.

you:
OMG are you for real?


Brian:
Okay, Now give me a screen shot of display please.

you:
display of what?

you:
the game?

Brian:
DXDIAG.. You have systems and the tab next to it is Display.

you:
so how do I send you tyhe screenshot?

Brian:
The same way yousent the first DXDIAG.

you:
I copy pasted the text into this chat

you:
and yes I have the display dxdiag information

you:
how do I copy paste a screenshot?

Brian:
Copy paste it.

you:
it's not pasting the screenshot into this text bar

Brian:
Okay, give me the video card and driver date.

you:
Driver Packaging Version 8.812-110104a-111988C-ATI Provider ATI Technologies Inc. 2D Driver Version 8.01.01.1114 2D Driver File Path /REGISTRY/MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Control/CLASS/{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}/0000 Direct3D Version 7.14.10.0806 OpenGL Version 6.14.10.10428 Catalyst Control Center Version 2011.0104.2155.39304

you:
Primary Adapter Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by AMD Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 5450 Device ID 68F9 Vendor 1002 Subsystem ID E153 Subsystem Vendor ID 174B Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0 Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x16 BIOS Version 012.015.000.002 BIOS Part Number 113-BAE15300-001 BIOS Date 2009/11/23 Memory Size 512 MB Memory Type DDR3 Core Clock in MHz 650 MHz Memory Clock in MHz 800 MHz Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 12.8 GByte/s

Brian:
Hold one second please.

Brian:
http://driverupdate.net/articles/windows-7-drivers?aps=article_win_7_drivers

Brian:
Here is your issue update your driver please.

you:
ok just a second

you:
I'm downloading the update now after upgrading my video drivers... 2 minutes left.



Brian:
sure


you:
it says I am downloading from http://launcher.thesimsmedieval.com/launcher/patches/1856847366

Brian:
okay. You should be good.

you:
Nope... I choose English for the install language and it tells me "The setup has detected that no version of The Sims Medieval" is installed. This update requires that a previous version of the application be installed.

you:
But I can play the 1.3.xx version with no problems

you:
Other than the game bugs

Brian:
follow the instructions below:

Brian:
1. Click on your Start Menu

Brian:
2. Go to Documents or My Documents

Brian:
3. Go into the Electronic Arts folder

Brian:
4. Go into The Sims 3 folder

Brian:
5. Right click on the Saves folder

Brian:
6. Select option Copy

Brian:
7. Right click on Desktop

Brian:
8. Select option to Paste

Brian:
9. If the file has a conflict, we can skip it

you:
I don't have the Sims 3 on this computer.Brian:

Brian:
http://www.revouninstaller.com/start_freeware_download.html

Brian:
Once we download and install REVO go head and start up the program and follow the instructions below:

Brian:
1. Right click on the [GAME/PROGRAM] Icon, select the option to Uninstall

Brian:
2. Once we select the Uninstall option go ahead and select the Advanced bubble and click Next

Brian:
3. It will now uninstall [GAME/PROGRAM] and then scan for left over Registry files

Brian:
4. Make sure only to check the BOLD Registry Files and then select the option to Delete them

Brian:
5. Click Next

Brian:
6. It will now scan for left of files and when can press Select All and then press Delete to remove them

Brian:
7. Click Next or Finish

Brian:
8. We can now close out of the REVO program

Brian:
Now once we do that you are going to have to restart And start all over agin.

you:
Yeah I am done. I am just going to call my credit card company and tell them that Origin is a scam and get my charges reversed. It shouldn't take 3 hours to get a game installed.


Brian:
Thank you for contacting origin have a nice nite.

EA ORIGIN IS A SCAM - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS WEBSITE

So I decided to purchase the Sims Medieval.  I am a big fantasy fan and I have had fun with some Sims game in the past.  IT was still $49.99 at Wal-Mart so I decided to look around online to see if I could get it cheaper.  EA has this new store interface called Origin... which gives a bad name to my favorite MMORPG of all time, Ultima Online, but I am not going to go there.  Anyways, for $29.99 I figure I will download the game, save $20.00 and check it out.

This is where the nightmare begins.

I pay my money, download the game, and go to patch it.  The patcher tells me that the game isn't installed.  All of this after downloading a 5+ GB game and patch that took me about 15 minutes to download.  The game says it is on version 1.3.xxx but the patch will put the game at 2.x.xxx. I've worked in the software industry for a long time and the jump from a 1.x to a 2.x is usually a pretty big jump.  If I am going to waste hours of time on a Sims game I don't want to have my progress get ruined because I am not running with the latest fixes.

I check my installed programs in Windows and sure enough, the Sims Medieval isn't there.  I run regedit and it's all over the place.  I look in the Origin games folder and it is in there.  I try to run the game without the patch and it starts... Something fishy is going on.

I use the Origin EA online help chat thing and within seconds I get someone who will supposedly help me.  I tell him my problem, and he tells me to run without the patch since it works that way.   I tell him that this is not an acceptable solution so he has me upload my DXDiag file.  Copy pasted about 5 times to get the whole she-bang in the chat dialog....  In the time it has taken me to recount this I am still waiting for a response from him.

HERE IS THE TEXT OF OUR CHAT:


Brian:
Thank you for contacting Origin Help. My name is Brian. How may I assist you today?

Brian:
First and last name please.

you:
can you look at my previous contact with your so-called tech-support?

you:
Lxxxx Cxxx

Brian:
No, how may I assist you ?

you:
Ok, I bought the Sims medieval 2 days ago

Brian:
Sure.

you:
I have downloaded, patched, and reinstalled, removed from the registry, followed your advice, etc 3 times now\
you:
aand even though I can play the game, when I try to patch it says that the game isn';t installed

you:
so I am playing on the downloaded version from origin, not the latest patched version

Brian:
The patch is only for the base game.

you:
and on top of that, it isn;t the special edition like I paid for but the regular version

Brian:
Exspanions do not need the patch.

you:
I don't have the expansion

you:
when I start the game it tells me to patch, when I finish downloading the patch it tells me I don;t have the game installed

Brian:
Do not patch the game by -pass that part.

you:
lol seriously?

you:
so the current game is at 2.0.xxxx and I am at 1.3.xxx

you:
that is your solution?

Brian:
Hold one second please.

you:
I bet you are going to go away and never come back like the last agent I waited over 20 minutes for

Brian:

Brian:
1. Hold down the Windows key and press R
Brian:
2. At the Run command, type in dxdiag and select OK
Brian:
3. Select "Save All InfIn order to best troubleshoot your issue, we will need additional system ormation" at the bottom of the program
Brian:
4. Save the DxDiag file to your desktop.
Brian:
5. Go ahead and upload the file to the Live Chat
Brian:

you:
I am getting ready to report you to my credit card company for fraud

you:
I have done that twice already

Brian:
No , I'm  here to assist you .

you:
and the agents never came back

Brian:
Okay try it with out the patch.

you:
I can play it without the patch but it has the pre-2.0 patch bugs

you:
so this whole origin thing is a scam? are you even part of EA?>


you:

Hello?

you:
Hello?

you:
HELLO?

you:
H E L L O ?

you:
HHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEE LLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLL OOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!


<NOTE: I HAD TWO CIGARETTES AND TOOK A SHIT WHILE I WAS WAITING FOR HIS RESPONSE>

you:
Uhh... is anyone going to come back and at least tell me to go fuck myself or do I just wait here all night>


30 MINUTES LATER STILL NO RESPONSE!


So yeah, EA Origin is a scam.  Don't buy shit from them.  Stick to Steam.  Yeah they suck too but at least they back up what they sell.