Insufficient privs Spore.com

[freazer]

Hello all, I am posting here out of desperation. I bought Spore + Creepy and Cute + Galactic Adventures for Christmas, but I have been unable to play at all.

Please see my dropbox gallery for images of the game: (can we insert pictures directly into the forums?)
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/1517102/1/Spore?h=375ee4

If you don't want to look at the pics, my errors are:
"We will link this installation of Spore to your Spore.com account."
"The code for this product is invalid and cannot be used to link this product to your account."
"The registration key used to install this game cannot be validated."
"You do not have the proper Spore.com privileges to use this product's online features."

I've tried it for both an existing EA account and one I made brand new after buying from Steam. I get the same errors with both.

I have been trying to resolve login issues with my game Spore since December 22nd. I am being bounced back and forth between EA and Valve Steam support. Any direction you can provide is greatly appreciated.

At Spore.com, when I login via the web interface it appears that I only have Galactic Adventures enabled, and not Spore? Is this normal?

I've opened two tickets with EA and spent an hour at their live support. They suggested my CD Key (I gave them the -one- that Steam reports when I right-click it, is it correct that it doesn't show one for C&C or GA?) had been used by someone else, and (I couldn't believe this part) issued me another one without any proof of purchase - but I suspect it's just a raw Spore CD key and not a Creepy and Cute or Galactic Adventures like I bought through Steam, unless they somehow knew that it was a "pack" key..

My most recent Valve petition told me to tweak my regedit for Steam and to verify my local game cache. I don't really understand what that has to do with my Spore.com priviliges but I did it anyway and am still following up.

Has anyone else had these problems?

[freazer]

I've tried TheGreenLing's thread here: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1676401
Note that the official instruction set for that is here:
http://support.ea.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8

[freazer]

I just found http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1673361

When I spoke with the EA live support people regarding the Spore.com CD key, they said it was registered to someone else, and they gave me an e-mail address I had never seen before.

And to repeat what I said in the OP, when I login to my Spore.com account, I only see Creature Creator (trial) and Galactic Adventures. It says I don't own Spore or C&C, is this normal, or is this my problem?

Thanks for any help on this.

[freazer]

Here is the contents of my first EA ticket if anybody is on the fence about buying something from EA. I think I first realized I was in deep trouble when they responded with this impeccable gem of grammar "according to the rules and regulations of Electronic Arts, it is not possible to merge two account."

MY Q:

Hello, I purchased Spore, Creepy and Cute, and Galactic Adventure on Steam. I am trying to link my Steam account with my existing EA account freazer@gmail.com.
I enter my credentials, it presents a dialogue to merge the accounts, and then responds: Internal application error.
Please advise me on how to correct this error as I cannot get past the main menu.

THEIR RESPONSE:

Response Cooper 01/15/2011 02:52 PM
Hello,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts

I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. I have gone through your mail and found that you are having trouble with your accounts. I would like to inform you that according to the rules and regulations of Electronic Arts, it is not possible to merge two account. Moreover if you want we can transfer your Personas and Veteran status from one account to another account.

Happy gaming

You may Visit our knowledge base at http://support.ea.com.

Kind regards
Cooper
EA online support

[freazer]

Ticket #2, and where the run-around began:

MY Q: (I try to be more direct)

I purchased Spore, Creepy and Cute, and Galactic Adventures using an online market called Steam. I am unable to play them as I get the various errors below when I play.
My Steam Spore CD key is: **REDACTED** - which hopefully identifies the expansions as well, as the others are not listing one. Please help me resolve this issue, or provide me with information on how to properly log in to the game.

"We will link this installation of Spore to your Spore.com account."
"The code for this installation is invalid and cannot be used to link this product to your account."
"You do not have the proper Spore.com privileges to use this product's online features."


THEIR RESPONSE:


Response Allan 01/24/2011 05:08 AM
Hello,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

I understand you are having trouble playing your game online.So we request you to please follow the given details:

Sub:I'm getting the error: 'Login failed: You do not have the proper spore.com privileges.' What do I do?

http://support.ea.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8

Hope this will solve your issue.

And I have checked your cd key (**REDACTED** ) in our database and found that your cd key is already disabled by the 3rdParty-Valve.You need to contact your retailor, where's you purchased the game.

We look forward to your reply.

Thank you,

Allan
EA Online Support

[freazer]

I'll post the live chat log if anybody wants for lolz.

Teaser:

Daniel: Please wait for few minute while I check it out.
Daniel: Please wait for few more minute as it will take some more time to investigate.