Welcome to the new Maxis registration system. This page should help you get familiar with our new system and guide you through the new options you have and how to access them.

Here are some links to help you find your way around:

• Overview Of Changes
• Levels Of Registration
• Upgrading Your Account
• Activating Your Account
• Serial Numbers
• Product Registered User Changes
• Site Registered User Changes
• Migration
• Invalid Serial Number
• Help

Overview Of Changes

• All users names are now case-sensitive, meaning that "Steve", "steve", and "STEVE" are considered the same user. As such, some usernames may have been changed. Please read the 'Migration' area below for details on how this may affect you.
• Product Registered users can now have 5 additional screen names for all your different personalities.
• Site registered users can read the entire site and view the Exchange but can't download or post to the BBS - they can only read posts.
• Child registrations can now be processed much faster, and are easier to fill out (they are now done electronically, only requiring a parental signature to be mailed or faxed).
• Users can now update their own account information or close their own accounts.
• Once you delete an account, the serial number will be released, but the screen name will be lost forever.
• Users can now 'Log Out' of the website so that no one else can use their screen name.

Levels Of Registration
There are 3 levels of registration on the new system. Here they are in order of highest to lowest:

• Product Registration - Master account
  This is for users that have a unique serial number. Master account owners can create up to 5 additional sub-accounts with different screen names. Master account owners have full access to all areas of the website including BBS, downloads, chat, and the Exchange. All changes you make to your accounts should be done from the Master account.
• Product Registration - Sub-account
  These are accounts that have been created by a Master account owner. These accounts are a way for Product registered users to create different screen names for themselves. Sub-accounts have all the same abilities as the Master account but cannot create more Sub-accounts. All changes you make to your accounts should be done from the Master account.
• Site Registration
  This is entry-level account that belongs to people who have not registered a Maxis product. Site registered users can read the website, read the BBS (but not post), view the Exchange (but not upload), get tech support information, and get game tips. Site registered accounts can upgrade to a Product registered account by entering a serial number at anytime.

Serial Numbers
Every time you buy a Maxis product, you get a unique serial number printed on your CD case. This unique serial number entitles you to full access to the chat room, all downloads, BBS and more. Our new registration system grants you access based on the serial number you provide. If you register your product and provide a serial number, then you will have a Master Account and will have the option of making sub-accounts for yourself. If you have given your serial number to someone else, and that person has registered before you, then that person will have the Master Account based on your serial number. You will become a sub-account of the person that has your serial number. That person will then have full access to your account information and all content you have uploaded to the Exchange and they will have the option of deleting your uploads as well. NEVER GIVE YOUR SERIAL NUMBER TO ANYONE. Any users found giving out serial numbers will be banned from the website and the serial number in question will be made invalid.

Product Registered User Changes
Product registered users have several new options in their account management area. If you wish to access your account information, just click on 'Register' at the top of the website and then click on 'Account Management'. This will give you access to all of your account information and to all of the new options we have created for you. Once you have logged in to the website and accessed the 'Account Management' area, your screen should look similar to this. If your screen doesn't look like this, make sure you log in to all of your screen names to find which one is the Master Account. If your account area does looks like this, then your account is a Master Product Registered Account. You can see the area where you can create, edit or delete all of your accounts. There is also an area on the left where you can add serial numbers for any new Maxis games you have purchased. Adding a new serial number to this area will ensure that the serial number belongs to you and no one else. Please take a moment to get familiar with your new options.

Site Registered User Changes
Site registered users have read-only access to the website. Site registration allows you to read posts on the BBS, get tips and tricks from the Help area, get tech support information, view user uploads to the Exchange, and get the latest news from Maxis. If you are a Site registered user, you can access your account information by clicking on 'Register' at the top of the website and then click on 'Account Management'. This will give you access to change your password, close your account or edit any of your personal information. There is also a link to add a serial number if you want to upgrade to a Product Registered account. When you enter a serial number you will be upgraded to a Product Registered Master account and have all the privileges of a Master account.

Upgrading Your Account
If you are a Site Registered user and you want to upgrade your account to Product Registration, please follow these directions:

• You must have a recent Maxis game with a serial number that is printed on the CD case. NEVER throw out your CD case. You should always keep it in case you need your serial number again.
• Go to TheSims.com and make sure you are logged in. If you need to log in then click on LOG IN on the home page or in the REGISTER area.
• Once you are logged in your username should appear on the home page with the message 'Welcome USERNAME'. You can then click on REGISTER.
• Click on the 'Account Management' link on the left hand side of the page under 'Registration Options'. This should take you to the Account Management area, if it doesn't then you are probably not logged in.
• Once in the Account Management area, click on the link that says 'add your product serial numbers here' which is on the left-hand side under 'Registration Options'.
• You should get a box that has the names of each Sims game and a place for the serial number. Check the box next to the name of the game you are registering and enter the serial number on the right and click on UPDATE.
• You should get a notice that says you have been upgraded and you will have the ability to create Sub-Account names. You're done!
• If you get the message 'Your serial number XXXXXXXX... is invalid or is already in use' then you should contact EA.com Customer Support Website. This error message usually means your serial number has already been registered by a different user. Please NEVER give your serial number to other users as they may register it before you and lock you out of the website.

Migration
One of the changes we have made to our system involved moving all users to a new, faster database. Each legitimate user was migrated from our old database to the new database. Here are some known issues with migrating users:

Duplicate names - If there are 2 users that have similar names such as steve (all lower-case letters) and STEVE (all upper-case letters), they are seen as the same name in our new system. As users are migrated to the new database, the first 'steve' name encountered is transferred over with no changes. When the database tries to migrate the second 'steve' name, it can't have two of the same names, so the name must be changed. When the second 'steve' logs in to the website he/she will be prompted to change their name. They will have to choose a new name and will not have access to any of the content they have previously uploaded. This is unavoidable and we regret any losses that may occur.

Duplicate serial numbers - As users are migrated to the new database, the database checks to see if the user has provided a serial number. The first account the database finds that registered a particular serial number becomes the Master account. If there are 5 more accounts that have the same serial number, those accounts become sub-accounts of the Master account. If there are more than 5 sub-accounts that have the same serial number, those accounts become Site registered.

If you have any problems with your account, please contact EA tech support at the email address below. This account has been set up especially for users that are having problems with their accounts. They will be able to give you help with your problem.

Activating Your Account
Once you have completed registering on our website you will receive an email that will contain a link to activate your account. If you do not receive this email or you possibly entered the wrong email address, or if you are having other problems activating your account, please visit the EA.com Customer Support Website. They can help you with Account Activation and any other problems you may be having with your account.

Invalid Serial Number

If you are getting this error message then there are a few possible reasons for this:

• You typed in your number wrong, please check it and try again.
• Make sure you are entering the number for the correct product. If you have a copy of TheSims, don't use that serial number for Living Large or some other game.
• If you have already registered with this serial number and have 6 accounts (one Master and 5 Sub-accounts). You don't need to register the number again, just log in as your Master Account and delete an unused screen name in the Account Management area.
• If you have given out your serial number to someone else, then it is possible they have already registered it before you. Please NEVER give your serial number to ANYONE else. If you have done this, then you need to contact the people you gave your serial number to and tell them to close their accounts in the Account Management area.