So I contacted EA Technical Support about my TS3 Mac Problems

FosoSam

I got asked if I had CC, if I'd updated my game, if I'd updated my COMPUTER, if I'd cleaned up my cache. Then my advisor elevated the case, so I had to call into EA on the phone, but gave me a phone number that I can't even connect to, despite the fact that I asked if I would be able to call the number from Australia.
So I am waiting in line again to ask another advisor for a working phone number because the website layout is impossible to navigate to find a phone number.

LavenderGrrl83

I am beyond frustrated with EA's game support. After a live chat last night, I was given a number to call as well. It was not a Sims3 supported number, so got transferred (after 2 hours!) only to be told that my issue would be noted and I'm SOL. $400+ on a game I can't play for more than 20 minutes at a time!

dfstone

I had a problem with crashing on my game. So I uninstalled the whole thing and started reinstalling it. I made sure I ran the updater after each installed expansion, one by one. Everything seemed ok. Then I went into the store to download all the stuff I bought from it. Seemed ok until I got to the hair-styles, one of them gave an "invalid version" error. So I went into the game everything seemed fine then it started crashing again. So I went back and uninstalled all the hair-styles I downloaded from the store and sure enough my crashing stopped.

I think there is some stuff from the store that is busted. What I think happened was the game randomly generates sims to populate the town using whatever content you have installed for the game. I think when the game tried to create a sim with that particular hairstyle is what made it start crashing.

I'm no tech expert but that's what it seems like happened. I would think if you are having random lock-ups and you make sure your base game and the expansions were all properly updated, the first place I'd look at is your store/custom content and check out any clothing or hair content, stuff that the game would use to create NPC sims.

You might also want to try unchecking the "load custom content" button in the options. See if that makes your crashing stop. It would at least allievate having to go thru all the uninstalling and repatching of game content. If that does stop the crashing then you know that its a custom content that you downloaded that is causing it.

Nanatorium

FosoSam wrote:

I got asked if I had CC, if I'd updated my game, if I'd updated my COMPUTER, if I'd cleaned up my cache. Then my advisor elevated the case, so I had to call into EA on the phone, but gave me a phone number that I can't even connect to, despite the fact that I asked if I would be able to call the number from Australia.
So I am waiting in line again to ask another advisor for a working phone number because the website layout is impossible to navigate to find a phone number.

It certainly cannot hurt to call Customer Service to let them know you have (many) problems playing TS3 on your Mac... but what *can* hurt is actually following their advice at all. Unfortunately, on the Mac end, CS aren't too knowledgeable about Macs, on average, and have been known to give some dodgy advice which, in the end, isn't very helpful.

But I keep thinking it can't hurt that they at least *get* these calls voicing our complaints.

As for advice, you're better off checking these forums. This thread has loads: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/658546.page

If what you're looking for isn't in that thread, add your reply in that thread and someone might be able to track down a fix or possible workaround.

dfstone

Nanatorium wrote:

FosoSam wrote:

I got asked if I had CC, if I'd updated my game, if I'd updated my COMPUTER, if I'd cleaned up my cache. Then my advisor elevated the case, so I had to call into EA on the phone, but gave me a phone number that I can't even connect to, despite the fact that I asked if I would be able to call the number from Australia.
So I am waiting in line again to ask another advisor for a working phone number because the website layout is impossible to navigate to find a phone number.

It certainly cannot hurt to call Customer Service to let them know you have (many) problems playing TS3 on your Mac... but what *can* hurt is actually following their advice at all. Unfortunately, on the Mac end, CS aren't too knowledgeable about Macs, on average, and have been known to give some dodgy advice which, in the end, isn't very helpful.

But I keep thinking it can't hurt that they at least *get* these calls voicing our complaints.

As for advice, you're better off checking these forums. This thread has loads: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/658546.page

If what you're looking for isn't in that thread, add your reply in that thread and someone might be able to track down a fix or possible workaround.

There aren't too many of these customer service reps that actually know how a mac works. I once had a comcast installer that came to check my modem ask me how to cut and paste on a mac.

Stephanie1988s

Ever since TS1 came out I've been through all off the sims games and cycled through about 6 pcs. I just came to learn, that with the sims, came freezing and crashing. No matter what the computer or how high end, and expensive, I just accepted it's an extremely buggy and glitchy game as countless forums and frustrated simmers will attest.

So I finally got the maxed out 15" Retina Macbook Pro of my dreams and installed the ones I had left off with before I had given up on the franchise: The Sims 3, World Adventures, High-End Loft Stuff, Ambitions, Fast Lane Stuff, Late Night, and Pets. And guess what??? IT WORKED LIKE A DREAM!!! For the past two months I've been playing/saving with no issues. I've been euphoric!

Well, last night I saw that all the games were 70% off on Origin's store so I sunk over a hundred dollars in snatching up all the rest of the games and installing them. I began the Sims and thought I'd make a completely new town for Supernatural and see the new features/content. I went to create a family and the first pre-made sim I selected was fine. Then I went to add a horse or a dog, the previews were black boxes, I'd click on one and either the game would crash immediately or I'd end up with a horse or a dog that was a one dimensional black silhouette. Sometimes I'd restart and the previews would be askew as I scrolled down, some tiles would be okay and then they'd start to be cut in half, the sims nose at the bottom of the tile, then eventually the tiles would be a series and blocky strange messes and there would be graphical issues (screen shots posted on twitter in shock and horror). But either way the end result would be the same - the game crashing.

No biggie, I had made a time machine backup at 4AM before the shopping spree and ensuing chaos so I could return to before the madness. I painfully watched my screen for four hours while watching a movie instead of going to bed, tenuously hoping for the best and that I hadn't ruined my simming forever. Finally after the process was complete, everything was the way it was (except the origin handler still had record of my new purchases - but they weren't installed). To my horror, it happened again when I launched! I tried uninstalling the game (because I'm not going through the pain of restoring my mac AGAIN, when it doesn't resolve the issue) but couldn't find, running Mountain Lion up to date, these Cider Preference files the web was talking about. I'm painfully waiting for the sims 3 to re-download onto the computer 12 hours later, the other packs are mostly done, and then I'll try to reinstall them all in order, in one shot and then updating them...I think...

:evil: :evil: :evil: FOR THE LOVE OF PLUMBOBS, HOW DO I GET THIS TO WORK???????? :evil: :evil: :evil: