I promise you that we still have staff dedicated to The Sims 3 around. This issue is our current top priority for The Sims 3 and it's something that unfortunately happened while people were out of office on vacation for the holiday season.
At the moment we have multiple teams from different parts of the business engaged on this issue, hopefully I'll have more news to share soon.
Well that's awesome news and I am very glad to hear it. Please give a big "thank you" to the Sims3 staffers and wish them good luck on this issue. I stand corrected.
I'm a 48 year old married man, with a beautiful wife, a cat, and a simverted personality.My Sims 3 Pictures
> @brandonfave said: > It even says I "do not own" some of the items even though I PAID for them!
I have a couple of worlds that I can get through the old Sims 3 store but appear as not owned on the EA app (Monte Vista and Roaring Heights) . I purchased Dragon Alley and Hidden Springs from EA during their Thanksgiving sale in 2022 but neither actually appears in game.
Yesterday I finally got proper help from EA when I was told they don't work in that app, and they refunded me the cost of those two (I also bought University, Island Paradise and Into the Future during that sale, they work fine.) and they told me that I have to go through a trusted retailer (big name stores like Target, Amazon, Best Buy, etc) and use the code purchased from them in the Sims 3 store for those worlds. Most don't carry them anymore and many seem to be purchasable on the Sims 3 store using Sim points only - and I can't seem to purchase more of those. I'm worrying that Sims 3 will become unplayable or at least I won't have access to any items purchased in the store in the near future. I was so looking forward to using those two worlds after having purchased them at a discount.
> @brandonfave said:
> It even says I "do not own" some of the items even though I PAID for them!
I have a couple of worlds that I can get through the old Sims 3 store but appear as not owned on the EA app (Monte Vista and Roaring Heights) . I purchased Dragon Alley and Hidden Springs from EA during their Thanksgiving sale in 2022 but neither actually appears in game.
Yesterday I finally got proper help from EA when I was told they don't work in that app, and they refunded me the cost of those two (I also bought University, Island Paradise and Into the Future during that sale, they work fine.) and they told me that I have to go through a trusted retailer (big name stores like Target, Amazon, Best Buy, etc) and use the code purchased from them in the Sims 3 store for those worlds. Most don't carry them anymore and many seem to be purchasable on the Sims 3 store using Sim points only - and I can't seem to purchase more of those. I'm worrying that Sims 3 will become unplayable or at least I won't have access to any items purchased in the store in the near future. I was so looking forward to using those two worlds after having purchased them at a discount.
If they can't fix this I really hope they give us all steam keys for all the Sims 3 expansions we bought. That way we could at least link up our accounts to steam and download the sims 3 store content to our client after launching it from steam instead of EA app.
If there really is a team that's actually dedicated to fixing this, why is customer service offering refunds and just straight up saying it doesn't work? What's going on?
The Sims 3 was not installed on the app...sadly, I had to go back to Origin. I don't know what to do at this point. I had luck with the app when it first came out. Now, nothing. What do you suggest?
Is there a support group for Simming Addiction? I think I need it...
Is there a way to save our Sims 3 purchases separate from our Sims 3 store account, to save for the future in case they stop working with Sims 3 store? In other words, how can I keep those assets and install them to Sims 3 without the Sims 3 store?
Is there a way to save our Sims 3 purchases separate from our Sims 3 store account, to save for the future in case they stop working with Sims 3 store? In other words, how can I keep those assets and install them to Sims 3 without the Sims 3 store?
@LibrarianBabe, you can save them using a writeable DVD-R disk or on an external hard drive. I have mine on a DVD-R disk which I had just used to install my store content on my new computer once I had installed the new EA app and then installed The Sims 3 onto the new computer. Of course the new PC doesn't have a CD/Disk drive, so I went out last Summer and purchased one when the one on my old PC stopped working.
Is there a way to save our Sims 3 purchases separate from our Sims 3 store account, to save for the future in case they stop working with Sims 3 store? In other words, how can I keep those assets and install them to Sims 3 without the Sims 3 store?
@LibrarianBabe, you can save them using a writeable DVD-R disk or on an external hard drive. I have mine on a DVD-R disk which I had just used to install my store content on my new computer once I had installed the new EA app and then installed The Sims 3 onto the new computer. Of course the new PC doesn't have a CD/Disk drive, so I went out last Summer and purchased one when the one on my old PC stopped working.
Hope this helps...
Do you know of somewhere with a step-by-step, in-depth guide posted on how to do this? Computer jargon is not something I understand easily, and I'd love to learn how to do this.
Hi, @Sheepiling it's really simple! I hope this helps:
1. Connect your external hard drive following the instructions provided in the box.
2. Open your external hard drive and your documents folder
3. Locate your Sims 3 folder.
4. Highlight the folder, right click, and click copy.
5. Go to your opened external hard drive
6. Right click and click paste.
7. You now have a copy of your current Sims 3 folder in your external hard drive.
To save your store purchases:
1. Go to the store.
2. Make sure your Sims 3 launcher is open.
3. Go to your purchase history on the sims 3 store website.
4. Download your purchases to your launcher.
5. Once you have downloaded all of the content you would like to save, open your sims 3 folder in your documents folder.
6. Locate your downloads folder and open it.
7. In the folder you will find your store content. Select everything in the folder, right click, and click copy.
8. Open your external hard drive, right click, and click paste.
9. You now have your store purchases in your external hard drive.
Tried again today and there seems to be some kind of improvement. Not every object disappears this time, only a few, and they seem to still be there once the game actually starts... but the ones that do disappear still have to be redownloaded and reinstalled every time the launcher starts...
*edit: I take back the above. Objects disappeared as soon as the game actually started, even if I had just recently redownloaded and reinstalled them. This is completely useless...
Also, the Sims 3 store is having issues too.
It's just buggy as hell, sometimes it says I haven't purchased objects that I clearly have... sometimes pages just won't show (502 Bad Gateway), and for some random reason (or maybe because they know it's crap..) I got 1000 free sim points to use...
Which I'm probably not going to use any time soon. I'm not asking for free stuff, I'm only asking for something that works and doesn't give me uneccessary trouble when all I want is to play a game.
Also, I did get a reference number for the complaint, but I have no idea how to use that to find it again. It kind of just disappeared into the ether and I have no idea what happens or if its being listened to...
Would I recommend buying Sims 3 store content? No, I would not.. Stay away. It's just going to be an annoyance sooner or later.
*Edit2: Well, the problem is solved for now after seeking help on EAs official page (just so you don't think I'm only complaining here, no, I'm complaining in every channel I can find!).... and getting assistance via chat by a helpful person whom I for a long time wasn't sure if it was an actual person or a chatbot... <_< >_> ..but this type of problem is just completely unecessary... and I hope it gets fixed as soon as possible... and I thought afterwards for a while that my Sun Lit tides save had corrupted too, but it turns out now it's okay again somehow.. I hope..
Well, anyway, I'm not getting any new store content again for a long time, free sim points or not! And I have most certainly put money into that for the last time...
I can't seem to use Store content anymore. I download and install it, and then open the game to find it missing. I'm getting in a panic that the game won't work soon. I wanted to play Barnacle Bay, which I only bought last year, to find I can't install it. I've saved my store content, but the question is now to install it without using the store in between?
Geez, can't they just give us the game to save and play offline if they don't want to support it? (Including all expansions!) I've played more Sims 3 since 4 came out than playing Sims 4. I find the gameplay much more satisfying.
I can't seem to use Store content anymore. I download and install it, and then open the game to find it missing. I'm getting in a panic that the game won't work soon. I wanted to play Barnacle Bay, which I only bought last year, to find I can't install it. I've saved my store content, but the question is now to install it without using the store in between?
Geez, can't they just give us the game to save and play offline if they don't want to support it? (Including all expansions!) I've played more Sims 3 since 4 came out than playing Sims 4. I find the gameplay much more satisfying.
The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Found a Bug? Let us know here. Having a technical issue with your game? Reach out to us here.
When Origin popped up with the EA update -- and it no longer gives you a choice -- I backed out and did some research. The EA app sounded like a nightmare, mostly. A few days later I went ahead and installed it, it uninstalled Origin, and my game worked fine, the first time.
The *second time I got into Sims 3 via EA, my stuff packs and expansion pack were all gone. Not showing as uninstalled; they weren't even listed. It turns out that when you're in the EA app and you click "Play" on your game, EA also tells you you can double-click a game tile to open it. I tried this. When you double-click the game tile, your packs are gone. I backed out and got into my game by clicking "Play" again. Poof, my packs were back.
This is a numpty sort of problem, but it is just the sort of issue I'd seen reported in other forums -- as if the EA app isn't quite ready for game day.
Otherwise, I've been lucky. All my stuff is present, no progress was lost, and my game works fine at the moment.
> @EA_Cade said: > The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Thank you. Mine isn't that version - it's 12.120.05377 - but I have it set up to automatically update. Do I just wait for the latest version or is there a way I can force an update?
> @EA_Cade said:
> The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Thank you. Mine isn't that version - it's 12.120.05377 - but I have it set up to automatically update. Do I just wait for the latest version or is there a way I can force an update?
You can force the update via the following steps: Shut down the EA app and end the EABackgroundService task via the task manager, then locate and run the EAUpdater.exe in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop (or whatever directory you installed the app in).
The version you're on also contains the backend fix, so you shouldn't need an additional update at this time. You can check the thread here (that's since been closed) for additional steps.
Found a Bug? Let us know here. Having a technical issue with your game? Reach out to us here.
> @EA_Cade said:
> The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Thank you. Mine isn't that version - it's 12.120.05377 - but I have it set up to automatically update. Do I just wait for the latest version or is there a way I can force an update?
You can force the update via the following steps: Shut down the EA app and end the EABackgroundService task via the task manager, then locate and run the EAUpdater.exe in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop (or whatever directory you installed the app in).
The version you're on also contains the backend fix, so you shouldn't need an additional update at this time. You can check the thread here (that's since been closed) for additional steps.
Thank you so much. Following the thread you linked to worked.
I can't seem to use Store content anymore. I download and install it, and then open the game to find it missing. I'm getting in a panic that the game won't work soon. I wanted to play Barnacle Bay, which I only bought last year, to find I can't install it. I've saved my store content, but the question is now to install it without using the store in between?
Geez, can't they just give us the game to save and play offline if they don't want to support it? (Including all expansions!) I've played more Sims 3 since 4 came out than playing Sims 4. I find the gameplay much more satisfying.
The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Why are we not given an option to switch to the EA App from Origin, such as later, so we can do this when ready and in our own time, and continue to play our games on Origin?
I was forced to install the EA App otherwise I had no optiion to play my games. Since yesterday when I downloaded the EA app, I have spent my time checking out my Sims 2/3/4 to see if they would load and work and getting my Sims 3 store items to download. I have not played at all!
On the left of the EA App it shows "installed games" and an play button alongside. My games will not launch from this play button and I have to go into My Library and actually click on the game itself. What is the point of of having a play button alongside installed games if it doesn't work? It does nothing.
It is taking ages to install content from the Sims 3 store if I want it in my game. The store is very buggy saying page is not available, then when I refresh it then shows up. I go into purchase history, I have items showing in the Store which is suppose to be only the ones I own, but there are a few items showing with points to buy. I do wonder if I have bought these items in the past but I can't remember. It's been a long time since I bought anything from the store, except last year I bought a few of the worlds via the Origin App.
Some free items in the Store say "manage" but the option to download does not become available. OK, it's no biggy for those couple of items, flip flops and lunar mushrooms, and it tells me I need an account registration when I ask to download them lol! Some items do not want to download at first, but I keep trying time after time, and some do eventually. It's very frustrating. It appears only to let me download one item at time so it's slow going.
The Worlds I have purchased via the Sims 3 Store, show up in my game, but also 3 of the Worlds I have not purchased are also showing up in my game. Surely worlds I have not bought should not be showing up in my game? This was not happening when I was playing on Origin.
Expansion packs, I own (all of them), and stuff packs are showing up in the launcher, but none of them are checked each time I load my game. So everytime I start my game I have to remember to check all of them again. Why won't the EP's and Stuff packs I have checked stay checked so all I need to do it hit the play button and not have to remember if I only selected a few packs to play with?
I often forget to check all the packs, then have to go through all the motions of exiting my game and restarting!
It's frustrating enough being forced to switch to the EA App, and spending time sorting things out instead of continuing playing the games I was having fun with!
Editited: I have just noticed on my launcher of the Sims 3 that the Packs are not showing but not as installed. Presumably why I have to check them each time I play. They won't install and now sure how I get this to work. Usually installed items show as greyed out and an option to select which packs you want to play with. I hope I don't have to register all my packs again, I have done this so many times and I don't know why this information is not retained.
I just got a new computer, at exactly the wrong time, since I can no longer download and use Origin. The EA app installed my base Sims 3 game fine and also installed the Seasons expansion pack, but it won't install the Island Paradise or Into the Future expansion packs. It says, "Preparing" for around half an hour, then gives me a pop-up message saying that there's a problem with my download.
I sent a bug report to EA, using the app. Three different EA reps sent me email on three different days, telling me to uninstall and reinstall the app, to clear the app's caches, and to turn off background tasks. None of these helped, and it made sense that none of these helped, since the app managed to install the base game and one expansion pack okay.
FINALLY, the FOURTH EA rep said this:
*** Begin comment from EA rep ***
I would like to inform you that we've received many reports about this issue already that players are reporting for Sims 3 that DLC install is stuck on preparing.
I have checked the issue you are facing and can see that the issue is a known issue and our team is working on a fix for the issue as soon as possible. At this point, we appreciate your patience while we investigate what's going on. There are hundreds of reports of the same problem.
Though I know nobody likes to wait but rest assured the team is actively working on it.
*** End comment from EA rep ***
So the good news is they ARE working on it. I've written back to ask how we'll know when it's fixed, so we know when to try to download again and why I had to talk to FOUR people before one of them knew about this issue.
@PrincessrozeeS the packs not being checked is a launcher thing. Actually once I updated to the App mine always are checked finally. It was with Origin I always had to check them off. Also all my purchased items and worlds transferred over fine.
If you haven't already maybe try clearing the apps cache? I think it must be hard to fix the problems simmers are having when problems aren't universal.
Hope you get yours sorted out soon.
"Every child matters. If we fail our children, we are bound to fail our present, our future, faith, cultures, and civilizations as well."
Comments
Well that's awesome news and I am very glad to hear it. Please give a big "thank you" to the Sims3 staffers and wish them good luck on this issue. I stand corrected.
> It even says I "do not own" some of the items even though I PAID for them!
I have a couple of worlds that I can get through the old Sims 3 store but appear as not owned on the EA app (Monte Vista and Roaring Heights) . I purchased Dragon Alley and Hidden Springs from EA during their Thanksgiving sale in 2022 but neither actually appears in game.
Yesterday I finally got proper help from EA when I was told they don't work in that app, and they refunded me the cost of those two (I also bought University, Island Paradise and Into the Future during that sale, they work fine.) and they told me that I have to go through a trusted retailer (big name stores like Target, Amazon, Best Buy, etc) and use the code purchased from them in the Sims 3 store for those worlds. Most don't carry them anymore and many seem to be purchasable on the Sims 3 store using Sim points only - and I can't seem to purchase more of those. I'm worrying that Sims 3 will become unplayable or at least I won't have access to any items purchased in the store in the near future. I was so looking forward to using those two worlds after having purchased them at a discount.
If they can't fix this I really hope they give us all steam keys for all the Sims 3 expansions we bought. That way we could at least link up our accounts to steam and download the sims 3 store content to our client after launching it from steam instead of EA app.
If there really is a team that's actually dedicated to fixing this, why is customer service offering refunds and just straight up saying it doesn't work? What's going on?
Free Toddler and Kids Items | 100% FREE store items| Missing Store Stencils
@LibrarianBabe, you can save them using a writeable DVD-R disk or on an external hard drive. I have mine on a DVD-R disk which I had just used to install my store content on my new computer once I had installed the new EA app and then installed The Sims 3 onto the new computer. Of course the new PC doesn't have a CD/Disk drive, so I went out last Summer and purchased one when the one on my old PC stopped working.
Hope this helps...
http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=lisasc360
My stories on this site:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991317/my-sims-stories/p1?new=1
Do you know of somewhere with a step-by-step, in-depth guide posted on how to do this? Computer jargon is not something I understand easily, and I'd love to learn how to do this.
1. Connect your external hard drive following the instructions provided in the box.
2. Open your external hard drive and your documents folder
3. Locate your Sims 3 folder.
4. Highlight the folder, right click, and click copy.
5. Go to your opened external hard drive
6. Right click and click paste.
7. You now have a copy of your current Sims 3 folder in your external hard drive.
To save your store purchases:
1. Go to the store.
2. Make sure your Sims 3 launcher is open.
3. Go to your purchase history on the sims 3 store website.
4. Download your purchases to your launcher.
5. Once you have downloaded all of the content you would like to save, open your sims 3 folder in your documents folder.
6. Locate your downloads folder and open it.
7. In the folder you will find your store content. Select everything in the folder, right click, and click copy.
8. Open your external hard drive, right click, and click paste.
9. You now have your store purchases in your external hard drive.
Let me know if you need any help
Free Toddler and Kids Items | 100% FREE store items| Missing Store Stencils
Thank you! I'll give that a try :D
Exited the game, and found that all my store content was uninstalled.
Redownloaded, reinstalled, started game.
Content was gone.
I reinstalled it three more times. Content was always gone.
There went my fun play time for today.
I reported it in the EA app.
Now I'm grumpy.
Sub blogs: #01 Sunset Valley. #02: Lake Onebega #03: Sprottenham #04: Bewickton
*edit: I take back the above. Objects disappeared as soon as the game actually started, even if I had just recently redownloaded and reinstalled them. This is completely useless...
Also, the Sims 3 store is having issues too.
It's just buggy as hell, sometimes it says I haven't purchased objects that I clearly have... sometimes pages just won't show (502 Bad Gateway), and for some random reason (or maybe because they know it's crap..) I got 1000 free sim points to use...
Which I'm probably not going to use any time soon. I'm not asking for free stuff, I'm only asking for something that works and doesn't give me uneccessary trouble when all I want is to play a game.
Also, I did get a reference number for the complaint, but I have no idea how to use that to find it again. It kind of just disappeared into the ether and I have no idea what happens or if its being listened to...
Would I recommend buying Sims 3 store content? No, I would not.. Stay away. It's just going to be an annoyance sooner or later.
*Edit2: Well, the problem is solved for now after seeking help on EAs official page (just so you don't think I'm only complaining here, no, I'm complaining in every channel I can find!).... and getting assistance via chat by a helpful person whom I for a long time wasn't sure if it was an actual person or a chatbot... <_< >_> ..but this type of problem is just completely unecessary... and I hope it gets fixed as soon as possible... and I thought afterwards for a while that my Sun Lit tides save had corrupted too, but it turns out now it's okay again somehow.. I hope..
Well, anyway, I'm not getting any new store content again for a long time, free sim points or not! And I have most certainly put money into that for the last time...
Sub blogs: #01 Sunset Valley. #02: Lake Onebega #03: Sprottenham #04: Bewickton
Geez, can't they just give us the game to save and play offline if they don't want to support it? (Including all expansions!) I've played more Sims 3 since 4 came out than playing Sims 4. I find the gameplay much more satisfying.
The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
AHQ Champion
The *second time I got into Sims 3 via EA, my stuff packs and expansion pack were all gone. Not showing as uninstalled; they weren't even listed. It turns out that when you're in the EA app and you click "Play" on your game, EA also tells you you can double-click a game tile to open it. I tried this. When you double-click the game tile, your packs are gone. I backed out and got into my game by clicking "Play" again. Poof, my packs were back.
This is a numpty sort of problem, but it is just the sort of issue I'd seen reported in other forums -- as if the EA app isn't quite ready for game day.
Otherwise, I've been lucky. All my stuff is present, no progress was lost, and my game works fine at the moment.
> The latest EA app version (12.115.0.5372) contains a fix to resolve this issue with Sims 3 store content and should be rolling out now to all users.
Thank you. Mine isn't that version - it's 12.120.05377 - but I have it set up to automatically update. Do I just wait for the latest version or is there a way I can force an update?
You can force the update via the following steps: Shut down the EA app and end the EABackgroundService task via the task manager, then locate and run the EAUpdater.exe in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop (or whatever directory you installed the app in).
The version you're on also contains the backend fix, so you shouldn't need an additional update at this time. You can check the thread here (that's since been closed) for additional steps.
Thank you so much. Following the thread you linked to worked.
Thank you very much for the update!
I was forced to install the EA App otherwise I had no optiion to play my games. Since yesterday when I downloaded the EA app, I have spent my time checking out my Sims 2/3/4 to see if they would load and work and getting my Sims 3 store items to download. I have not played at all!
On the left of the EA App it shows "installed games" and an play button alongside. My games will not launch from this play button and I have to go into My Library and actually click on the game itself. What is the point of of having a play button alongside installed games if it doesn't work? It does nothing.
It is taking ages to install content from the Sims 3 store if I want it in my game. The store is very buggy saying page is not available, then when I refresh it then shows up. I go into purchase history, I have items showing in the Store which is suppose to be only the ones I own, but there are a few items showing with points to buy. I do wonder if I have bought these items in the past but I can't remember. It's been a long time since I bought anything from the store, except last year I bought a few of the worlds via the Origin App.
Some free items in the Store say "manage" but the option to download does not become available. OK, it's no biggy for those couple of items, flip flops and lunar mushrooms, and it tells me I need an account registration when I ask to download them lol! Some items do not want to download at first, but I keep trying time after time, and some do eventually. It's very frustrating. It appears only to let me download one item at time so it's slow going.
The Worlds I have purchased via the Sims 3 Store, show up in my game, but also 3 of the Worlds I have not purchased are also showing up in my game. Surely worlds I have not bought should not be showing up in my game? This was not happening when I was playing on Origin.
Expansion packs, I own (all of them), and stuff packs are showing up in the launcher, but none of them are checked each time I load my game. So everytime I start my game I have to remember to check all of them again. Why won't the EP's and Stuff packs I have checked stay checked so all I need to do it hit the play button and not have to remember if I only selected a few packs to play with?
I often forget to check all the packs, then have to go through all the motions of exiting my game and restarting!
It's frustrating enough being forced to switch to the EA App, and spending time sorting things out instead of continuing playing the games I was having fun with!
Editited: I have just noticed on my launcher of the Sims 3 that the Packs are not showing but not as installed. Presumably why I have to check them each time I play. They won't install and now sure how I get this to work. Usually installed items show as greyed out and an option to select which packs you want to play with. I hope I don't have to register all my packs again, I have done this so many times and I don't know why this information is not retained.
I sent a bug report to EA, using the app. Three different EA reps sent me email on three different days, telling me to uninstall and reinstall the app, to clear the app's caches, and to turn off background tasks. None of these helped, and it made sense that none of these helped, since the app managed to install the base game and one expansion pack okay.
FINALLY, the FOURTH EA rep said this:
*** Begin comment from EA rep ***
I would like to inform you that we've received many reports about this issue already that players are reporting for Sims 3 that DLC install is stuck on preparing.
I have checked the issue you are facing and can see that the issue is a known issue and our team is working on a fix for the issue as soon as possible.
At this point, we appreciate your patience while we investigate what's going on. There are hundreds of reports of the same problem.
Though I know nobody likes to wait but rest assured the team is actively working on it.
*** End comment from EA rep ***
So the good news is they ARE working on it. I've written back to ask how we'll know when it's fixed, so we know when to try to download again and why I had to talk to FOUR people before one of them knew about this issue.
If you haven't already maybe try clearing the apps cache? I think it must be hard to fix the problems simmers are having when problems aren't universal.
Hope you get yours sorted out soon.
AHQ Champion