What if I bought it already?

[WarriorofZarona]

I love the fact that Sims3 is on Steam, and I see that the other expansions are on there as well.

The question comes down to being able to use those expansions on the copy that I bought at the store. Is it possible to do this somehow? It would make things more convenient if it's possible.

[Princess Garnet]

Probably not. I say that with sadness, as I'm in the same situation, having bought the base game and all expansion packs and stuff packs elsewhere. This means Valve likely loses out on potentially alot of people making future purchases of that series here too, since future expansion packs and stuff packs would require the Steam version. In that thinking, it might make a little sense to have retail or other versions to be able to be activated on Steam. I know I'd move all my Sims 3 purchasing here in the future, if only I could. This really came way too late, Valve. After the base game plus maybe one release, sure, I'd rebuy them here, but not at $90. I'm going to just have to buy them from Direct 2 Drive.

[Anach]

I'm annoyed enough about not being able to register my current keys on Steam. I'd be even more annoyed if I purchased the bundle for my Wife and I, and then they changed it to allow the keys. It's a difficult decision, as I would prefer all my games on Steam, I hate having to reinstall from disk when a patch fails to update (happens a lot). Do I repurchase them all again x2, or keep buying exp packs from Retail stores.

[NeKryXe]

I love the fact that Sims3 is on Steam, and I see that the other expansions are on there as well.

The question comes down to being able to use those expansions on the copy that I bought at the store. Is it possible to do this somehow? It would make things more convenient if it's possible.

avoid this!! i just lost all the items i bought and all my saved games. the steam version is useless, it's not compatible with any know content for sims 3. i just with i had my money back. this is a huge fraud.

[marciohuser]

I'm not that concerned as the FULL PACK is about 1/3 the price of the five add-ons on retail, over here :D

[Anach]

avoid this!! i just lost all the items i bought and all my saved games. the steam version is useless, it's not compatible with any know content for sims 3. i just with i had my money back. this is a huge fraud.

Could you explain the issue? Did you remove your disk version first, did you accidentally say "yes" to the removal of your save games when you uninstalled, did you have your CC in your game directory instead of docs. Or are you saying that you can no longer load your existing saves, and/or the game doesn't recognise your bought Store content?

[Princess Garnet]

I'm annoyed enough about not being able to register my current keys on Steam. I'd be even more annoyed if I purchased the bundle for my Wife and I, and then they changed it to allow the keys. It's a difficult decision, as I would prefer all my games on Steam, I hate having to reinstall from disk when a patch fails to update (happens a lot). Do I repurchase them all again x2, or keep buying exp packs from Retail stores.
IF they allow you to activate other versions here (don't hold your breath, that's alot of bandwidth they'll lose for not being paid for it [unless EA goes in on some sort of agreement, which I further doubt even more]), then I think we'd either see it right as it happened, or REAL soon after. The News page announcing this was bare and looked quickly tossed up, so maybe there is more to it, but again, do not count it it. It's almost surely not going to happen.

If you just want it digitally so you don't have to worry with the discs and don't care where it is, although you may prefer Steam, you can try the EA Download Manger. I think you can activate all physical copies there (you can at least for the base game from what I've heard, but the rest I don't know). I got all of my copies via Direct 2 Drive and even those all activated on EA Download Manger.

There's no reason to pay $90 and for the whole thing twice, not counting all the time uninstalling it and downloading it again and such, just to have it listed on Steam. I'm not. If a better deal shows up further down the line, maybe, but then the problem is, by then, we'll have more expansions and such to have to abandon and lay to waste. I'd like it on Steam more than anything, but it's not worth it at this point for us who have the whole existing series so far. I hate to say it, but Valve was late with this one, so this is the loss they take. They'll still make alot of sales, of course, but I'm not about to throw $90 down the drain to pay them for what I already have. That's otherwise ALOT of entirely new games instead.

[NeKryXe]

Could you explain the issue? Did you remove your disk version first, did you accidentally say "yes" to the removal of your save games when you uninstalled, did you have your CC in your game directory instead of docs. Or are you saying that you can no longer load your existing saves, and/or the game doesn't recognise your bought Store content?

nope, i have all the folder. savegames, contents, everything.
the problem is that steam is blocking the access to EA sims store.
so, if you buy this cheap and limited version of sims 3, not only you'll not be able to use your previous paid content, but also you'll never be able to get new stuff from the sims store.
not even the free stuff like prius will work. this sims3 from steam is a closed and useless version of sims 3, and they are not informing people about it.

my savegames don't load, because i have there 2 paid cars, 1 paid lot, and the free prius. i already tried to install dozens of times in different ways the damn stuff.

i have all files. the problem is the steam version of sims.

[Anach]

IF they allow you to activate other versions here (don't hold your breath, that's alot of bandwidth they'll lose for not being paid for it [unless EA goes in on some sort of agreement, which I further doubt even more]), then I think we'd either see it right as it happened, or REAL soon after. The News page announcing this was bare and looked quickly tossed up, so maybe there is more to it, but again, do not count it it. It's almost surely not going to happen.

If you just want it digitally so you don't have to worry with the discs and don't care where it is, although you may prefer Steam, you can try the EA Download Manger. I think you can activate all physical copies there (you can at least for the base game from what I've heard, but the rest I don't know). I got all of my copies via Direct 2 Drive and even those all activated on EA Download Manger.

There's no reason to pay $90 and for the whole thing twice, not counting all the time uninstalling it and downloading it again and such, just to have it listed on Steam. I'm not. If a better deal shows up further down the line, maybe, but then the problem is, by then, we'll have more expansions and such to have to abandon and lay to waste. I'd like it on Steam more than anything, but it's not worth it at this point for us who have the whole existing series so far. I hate to say it, but Valve was late with this one, so this is the loss they take. They'll still make alot of sales, of course, but I'm not about to throw $90 down the drain to pay them for what I already have. That's otherwise ALOT of entirely new games instead.

The thing I don't like about the EA download manager, and other DD sources, is they require storing the game twice. Once for the download, then once for install. It also still requires reinstalling if anything goes wrong. Steam only requires one copy of the game on the HDD, and if anything goes wrong, a simple scan fixes it.

It's a shame they waited so long to make it available on Steam, but I'm pretty sure that would be EA, not Valve's doing. It's also the publisher, not Valve that makes the decision as to allow activation of existing retail product keys.

[Princess Garnet]

You can delete the local installation files. EA Download Manager and Direct 2 Drives "Download Manager" (that's all it's called) work the same way. They download the files to a pre-selected path, and then install when you choose to do so. You can remove any files in the installation directory at any time. it doesn't do it automatically, but you're not forced to keep them.

Oh, and yeah, not 100% sure who's "fault" it is, but still, I doubt Valve sits around doing nothing. I'm sure they reach out too. It has to go both ways. Comments like mine entice them to push harder themselves and from the start.

[mutelight]

nope, i have all the folder. savegames, contents, everything.
the problem is that steam is blocking the access to EA sims store.
so, if you buy this cheap and limited version of sims 3, not only you'll not be able to use your previous paid content, but also you'll never be able to get new stuff from the sims store.
not even the free stuff like prius will work. this sims3 from steam is a closed and useless version of sims 3, and they are not informing people about it.

my savegames don't load, because i have there 2 paid cars, 1 paid lot, and the free prius. i already tried to install dozens of times in different ways the damn stuff.

i have all files. the problem is the steam version of sims.

The store seems to be going through some maintenance at the moment but have you tried redownloading your store content? You might have to uninstall the content, delete it from the downloads, then you can login the Steam launcher with your account or in the in game store and redownload. Hopefully that will help, I had some success with it.

[Old Thread Bump]

you guys know that its not valve's fault for just putting the sims 3 up on the store now or not accepting retail keys right? ea seems to delay the release of their games on steam a lot. in this case, a very long time. also why would valve accept retail keys for the sims 3 for free and then let you use their servers to redownload your games whenever you want even though you didnt give valve money for that privilege. if you want steam to accept those keys you should probably all write to ea so that they pay valve and let them accept retail sims 3 keys.

[stethnorun]

you guys know that its not valve's fault for just putting the sims 3 up on the store now or not accepting retail keys right? ea seems to delay the release of their games on steam a lot. in this case, a very long time. also why would valve accept retail keys for the sims 3 for free and then let you use their servers to redownload your games whenever you want even though you didnt give valve money for that privilege. if you want steam to accept those keys you should probably all write to ea so that they pay valve and let them accept retail sims 3 keys.

They should accept retail keys because it means those customers will buy all the future expansions using Steam. Pretty obvious.

[Princess Garnet]

True, but if EA doesn't pay for it, I can see why Valve won't just give it away.

[bewilderedronin]

Having your retail keys being able to be registered to Steam is an additional perk that publishers can take advantage of when releasing games via Steam. It is entirely up to the publisher as to which features they do and do not wish to support and it is on a game-by-game basis. In this case, it is entirely up to EA as to whether they want to pursue this feature for The Sims 3.

Typically, if an expansion does NOT work with retail and other DD service editions, it will be explcicitly stated on the page for the expansion. A good example is Spore. The Steam page for Galactic Adventures (http://store.steampowered.com/app/24720/) states:

Notice: COMPATIBLE ONLY WITH SPORE™ GAMES PURCHASED FROM THE STEAM WEBSITE. IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED THE SPORE™ GAME FROM ANY RETAILER OTHER THAN STEAM, THIS VERSION OF SPORE™ GALACTIC ADVENTURES WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY.

Instead, this is on the pages for Sims 3 expansions:

Downloadable Content

Requires the base game The Sims™ 3 on Steam in order to play.


I have seen this message before meaning merely that the user must have the base game in order for the expansion to work, whereas the first warning (for Galactic Adventures) explicitly states that it will not work with ANY version other than the Steam version. However, caveat emptor.

-edit-

According to a post on modthesims (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=432652), Sims3 expansions purchased on Steam will only work with the Steam edition of the base game. This is NOT in any way official. Again, caveat.

-edit edit-

BTW, here (http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/334774.page) is a thread over at the official Sims 3 forums requesting to be able to add your retail keys to Steam. Pop on in and lend your support.

[Princess Garnet]

I haven't been to the official forums in some weeks now. I'll pop in and add to the thread, not that I expect it to do much of anything. I honestly figure they'd had it set that way from day one if it was in the plan at all.

Oh, and you need the Steam version of the base game for the Steam version of the expansion packs to work. It is almost always, if not always, like this (standalone expansions being the exception). Those two different messages mean the same thing. Kane's Wrath and Resurrection of Evil have similar, but yet again differently worded, messages, but they both need the Steam version of the base games.
Notice: Requires the Steam version of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars in order to play.
Requires the Steam version of Doom 3 to play.They're all the same. They're just worded differently.

In the case of how the one for The Sims 3 is worded, it does say "on Steam" (adding it as a non-Steam game merely makes a shortcut, it doesn't put it "on Steam").

[bewilderedronin]

They're all the same. They're just worded differently.


Ah, okay. That's really annoying. Steam should codify something like this so that all "warning" type messages appear in ALL CAPS and IN BRIGHT ORANGE so that people can be clearly warned. I did notice the "on Steam" bit, but found it kind of vague. It's even more vague that the same kind of warning is worded differently for so many different titles.

99.9% of my games I buy on Steam, so usually expansion compatability isn't much of an issue. I bought Sims 3 via EA's download service because I don't really like D2D, I don't feel like traveling 15+ miles to get a physical copy (if my local Best Buy even has a copy), and I didn't think EA was ever going to bother releasing Sims 3 on Steam.

Oh well. One can hope that if enough people ask, Maybe EA will allow us to register our keys on Steam. I would think, conversely, that you would be able to register your Steam keys for EA's download service, as you can do so with retail keys.