Can I get the US English version of the game through Dutch serials

[RaShCl]

Hi all i have the  following question.

I normally buy all sims 3 expansions and stuff packs through digital media from usa  or other stores that had the  usa  english versions games by means of prepaid cc
but sometimes i dont have any money on them and especially  at the time there's a new expansion available.

ea told me that the version i get would by downloading  that it was linked to the settings i had installed in the ea downloader (origin) so if i  had  the English us settings then i would download the us  English version of the game.

So i was wondering if i buy a dutch version in store and fill in the serial on the origin site and download the expansion or stuff pack while having the settings on  usa English
would i get a full USA  English version that would work with my  other original USA English downloads i have ?

Or would it still be a dutch version with a dutch number in the Sku file and get problems when they are combined.

i asked this because  as i stated before sometimes i don't have any money available on a account to get the real USA versions of the game and if i can get a version buy buying it in  a shop over here in Holland that would also solve the problem.

thx in advance

[PJSim]

if I buy a dutch version in store and fill in the serial on the origin site and download the expansion or stuff pack while having the settings on USA English would i get a full USA English version that would work with my other original USA English downloads i have ?

I'm not sure this will work. I have downloaded my games from Origin by using the code from my disks and gotten a US English version some time ago, but at the moment it doesn't work. The new version of Origin will not accept codes from disks at all.

It doesn't matter though because you don't need to download the game if you have the disk.
The games we can buy here in Europe (I live in Denmark) may have different languages on the cover but it's the same disk in the box. There's no reason to get an American version, they all come with an English version, you just need to choose English when you install the game.

I personally have some EP's with a Danish cover, some with a UK English cover, one with an American cover - it doesn't matter. What matters is the language you choose when you first install the base game. I chose English so now every EP gets installed in English too.

So you can just buy the game in a shop in Holland with a Dutch cover and then choose English when you install it. If you just want to add an EP and the game is already installed in English I think you can just put the disk in your drive and the installer will automatically choose the English version from the disk. The desktop shortcuts may be in the wrong language (mine are usually Danish) but the game language will be correct.

[RaShCl]

what i ment was i have had problems in teh past when installing expansions that wher diffrent languages
i have aded downloads expansions from teh sims 3 by ea that i downloaded through theer downloader after filling in my serials.
that where dutch using dutch version serials.

 thats why i started  teh compleet collection all over again but only use digital serial numbers from us only sites

but since ea told me that the version you get through teh digital versions download manager are in teh language that you have setup in teh options of the download manager
and ther is a diffrence between  downloading UK english versions and us english versions

and that gave terrible conflicts while installing sims and expansions and  the strange ting wa that some text in items etcv was in dutch and some in english
also when i installed the updates the patcher gave errors  like  wrong language etc

so thats why i started using only us  serials

but i was just wondering if the sims can see a diffrence between dutch serials and usa serials
if not then getting the sims  is much more easyer becouase i can go directly to teh shop and buy teh dutch version.

but then i would pay alot more in euros then if i would buy the digital version from the net the prices are very  diffrent betwen dutch and usa

as a example americans pay 10$ for 1000 store points witch is 6.95 euros
while i  need to pay 10 euro for 1000 store points witch is 14.38 usd

same goes for digital downloads from us sites

i safe alot of money that way i think i safe around  5-10 euro's on buying a digital us version then a dutch version here in stores

and besides if the serials are not languages linked then i would throw away the disk anyway

and seeing that there are atleast 2  expansions  a year and teh price diffrence of full expansions not the stuff packs is high

i safe alot of money this way.

[PJSim]

as a example americans pay 10$ for 1000 store points witch is 6.95 euros
while i  need to pay 10 euro for 1000 store points witch is 14.38 usd

Yeah, I know. I have to pay 17,5 USD for 1000 Simpoints.


I don't know very much about digital downloads because I never buy them. I know that if you have the disk version it's possible to use Regedit to change the language in the game, see a thread about that here:
http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=963.0

I don't know if this works for a digital download, you could try that and see if it's possible for you.

I was just wondering if the sims can see a difference between dutch serials and usa serials

I think it probably can't see a difference. Like I said I never bought a download but I have used a serial number from a Danish disk version to get an English download version of the game in Origin. I had the language set to US English, so I think that's what decides what version you get.

[RaShCl]

ahh thats what i thought thx for all the info
and thx for the link

[Hosfac]

Actually, the Dutch and English versions are more than likely not compatible at all.  All electronic media, from DVD's to electronic downloads, have region codes.  For DVD's, these codes have to be compatible with the machine you play them on.  For example, I couldn't normally buy a DVD from Japan, because American DVD players have different hardwired region codes.  However, this is not an issue for me since I spent extra money for a DVD player that was does not have hardwired region codes.

Games with expansions are different.  There are different patches for different regional versions and it's probable that, due to this, the game will not allow you to install an expansion with region codes that don't match what is already installed on your computer.  Patches that are downloaded are applied to all the expansions that you have installed simultaneously, and since the region codes for your expansions would not be the same, none of the patches would be compatible.

Edit:  What I meant to say by all of this is that it's quite possible that Origin would know the difference between a Dutch activation key and an English activation key.  While I do not know for sure, it's possible that you could either end up downloading a Dutch version anyways or that it will tell you that the version you are attempting to download cannot be downloaded in your region.

[jeanamariex3]

Would they know the difference between an English Activation Key from the US and one from Canada or UK?

[Hosfac]

Would they know the difference between an English Activation Key from the US and one from Canada or UK?

Canada and the US are probably the same region so it's entirely possible that they're the same region.  But as far as the UK goes I'm not really sure because I don't know how or where the lines are drawn for the regions.  It's possible that it's related to languages, but I believe there's a bit more to it than that.

[TheChronicR]

Actually, don't know if this helps or not, but I managed to combine three different-language expansions in one English-language game.

My Late Night is said to be in Italian. (I bought it from Italy) My Generations is said to be in Russian. (I got it from my local shop here) And my base game is in English, naturally. Other expansions (Amb and WA) are said to be in Russian, as I got those from my local store too.

Somehow, after installing all them, my final result was and is a game in English. Everything is in English, all the content from the aforementioned expansions.