WhichEA games still on Steam require Origin?

[McMullen]

So I'm thinking about buying the ultimate edition of Dragon Age: Origins through Steam, but I've heard that EA's Origin software is required to run it. I've no interest in installing that thing, so I'd like to ask if it is true, and what other EA games will require me to get Origin.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

My Steam copy didn't require it, but I uninstalled it earlier in the year.

 

[Tigurus]

As far as I know. Only Battlefield 3 really NEEDS Origin.
Bad Company 2 and Dragon Age 2 (when registered) are also available to download on Origin but you don't need it per se.

 

[gigastar]

Dragon Age: Origins you should be safe, last time i checked it had no severe DRM and it came out long enough before Origin for EA to stop giving a shit about it.

Anything that has a multiplayer section (such as the Command and Conquer games) requires an Origin account to play online, but not have the Origin client.

 

[isometry]

I reinstalled Mass Effect 2 through steam about a month ago and didn't have to deal with Origin at all. Not sure about DA:O, but since ME2 is a more recent release from the same developer, my guess would be it doesn't require origin either.

 

[xxcutesnakeyxx]

You don't need Origin, but you do need a Bioware (and/or?) a EA account, and the game goes batshit insane periodically if you have the DLC and try to play a saved game.

The amount of rage I have spent trying to get it to work is astronomical.

Good game though

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The only exposure I've had to Origin is when EA forced me to update my EA Account to an Origin Account so I could actually play mass Effect 2 again.

 

[AD-Stu]

Dragon Age: Origins you should be safe, last time i checked it had no severe DRM and it came out long enough before Origin for EA to stop giving a shit about it.

DA:O had other issues, in that it tries to authenticates your DLC every time you start it up - and if it couldn't find the authentication server for any reason, then all the DLC content was stripped from the game. I messed up my first playthrough as a result of that, because even when it did manage to reconnect to the server it didn't restore everything properly (my Blood Dragon armour and other DLC-related items went missing from my inventory, for example).

There's an option somewhere to make it only check the once, but for a lot of people it was too late by the time they found it. OP, if you do get the game, definitely uncheck this option after first authentication!

 

[McMullen]

Dragon Age: Origins you should be safe, last time i checked it had no severe DRM and it came out long enough before Origin for EA to stop giving a shit about it.

DA:O had other issues, in that it tries to authenticates your DLC every time you start it up - and if it couldn't find the authentication server for any reason, then all the DLC content was stripped from the game. I messed up my first playthrough as a result of that, because even when it did manage to reconnect to the server it didn't restore everything properly (my Blood Dragon armour and other DLC-related items went missing from my inventory, for example).

There's an option somewhere to make it only check the once, but for a lot of people it was too late by the time they found it. OP, if you do get the game, definitely uncheck this option after first authentication!

That... is good to know. I'll bet that's why I couldn't load my Xbox 360 ME2 saves without connecting to xbox live... Wasn't authenticating my Shadow Broker DLC.