Sorry, long story to follow:

Okay, here's the situation: I've recently decided I may want to play through Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 after I finish with the games I'm currently playing. So in preparation for that, I decided to reinstall the games. Everything went smoothly and the games are installed. Got all the extra DLC that I own for ME2 installed without issue. Got Bring Down the Sky installed for ME.

However, I also bought Pinnacle Station for ME and want to install that as well. Please, don't bother telling me how crappy it is, the fact is I bought it way back when it was first released and since I own it and it's part of the game, I want to install it as well. Problem is, I don't have the DLC anywhere on my rigs that I can find. So last night I dug up my old purchase e-mail and tried the link that it provides to grab the DLC.

Now, the link is to www.eastore.com. When I click on this, it takes me to the Origin store. Nothing to do there but log in. So I do so, using the e-mail and password that's tied to my Bioware Social Network account. That works fine, but the login page also tells me it wants me to make an EA Origin ID. Here's where the trouble starts.

I try the same username that I have on the BSN. No go.
I try several names that I have on various other forums. No go.
I decide "What the hell" and try some old Greek philosopher names like Socrates (and add Jones or Johnson to them). No go.
I try some more obscure Greek philosopher names. No go.

At this point I'm starting to wonder if maybe this thing is just not working, so I open a tab and research what the deal is with the Origin ID and names. Come back and try a different one. Bingo! It works.

Now I think I'm onto something. But what does it do? It sends me right back to the login page that I just filled in. So I figure "Maybe it's just a glitch and I need to sign in again". So I try that. The e-mail address and password go in no problem. Signed in but it wants me to make an Origin ID. WTF???

So I enter my previously successful Origin ID name in the field and... I get "Name invalid or already being used".

WTF????.

So I give up and go to bed. This morning I try again. Site is acting wonky and it takes several tried to even get to the login page. When I get there it's the same shit, different day.

Does anyone know how to successfully get through this bullshit so I can at least try to check my account and maybe get the DLC that I paid for?

Of note: I don't have Origin on my rigs. Is this causing an issue? My Mass Effect copy is the Steam version (and as far as I'm aware, the DLC for ME1 is not available to DL through Steam).

Have you tried the EA forum?

Not yet. I'm a little too pissed off to deal with anything EA at the moment.

Replying to you so you notice, but be aware, StingingVelvet's response is correct (well, I'm not commenting on Pinnacle Station itself, just about Origin).

Don't use their dumb forums, get into Live Chat on their site, or at least open a support ticket. Seriously, Origin support is about 100 times more helpful and responsive than Steam's. FYI, the Live Chat guys have been the brightest, in my experience, far more so than phone support.

Pinnacle Station should be downloadable through Origin client, I think.

I don't know if there's gonna be a problem with installing it on steam version of ME, but I think not.When you tried them last time? ;P Now Live Chat support is handled by Indian outsourced company, and it kinda... sucks.

3-4 months ago, I'm sad to hear it's worse now.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I really appreciate the input. Gonna mark this as the solution. Installed Origin and everything went smooth as silk. It detected my Dragon Age installs and I also managed to get Pinnacle Station added as well. I was ready to give up on it, SV, but decided to try just once on Origin and it worked, so I've got it at least. Wanted to try it out at least once, since I actually paid money for the bloody thing. Since I managed to find the product key, it was no hassle.

Added The Saboteur and dug around in the registry on my old rig and found the key for Mirror's Edge and have that added as well.

Slick. Thanks again for the help all.

Oh, and sorry for the late reply. Took the family out to the movies today and then got sidetracked watching another one at home.