Can't LAN Moxxi's Heist DLC? SOLVED (for us anyway)

Borderlands 3 [PC] Borderlands 3 Tech Support
#1

Can someone explain this, please? My partner and I play BL3 over LAN (very rural Florida, satellite metered internet connection, the only way we can play coop is offline since we have a 10 Gb monthly cap which would otherwise be eaten up in about 30 minutes of play). Finished the campaign, works beautiful.

Then we bought and downloaded/installed Moxxi’s Heist (which we can do after midnight without eating into our cap), went to play it offline the next day, and we couldn’t find the “Handsome Jackpot” starting point in the fast travel anywhere. So, we hopped online for a few precious minutes, found and started the DLC campaign individually, made a save point at the Handsome Jackpot casino (we played online for about 20 minutes, cleared the first few rooms and started a side mission, so definitely created a save point).

Then, we hopped offline to continue, and we found this error when trying to connect:

“This game was saved in an add-on that is not currently available.”

It booted both of us to Covenant Pass instead…which is not where the DLC takes place of course.
Uh, does that mean the DLC cannot be played offline at all? We both own and have completely installed the DLC, and when we go back online and hit “continue,” we even end up at the Handsome Jackpot casino, right where we left off. But as soon as we go offline and try to coop via LAN, we get the error above. UGH! So irritating… Please don’t tell me they’d make the entire main campaign playable co-op offline, but not the DLC…please don’t say that…

Someone, anyone, help? Please?! Eternally grateful if you can…

#2

I’m guessing you’re on PC? I’m not sure what the official position on this is. About all you can do at this point is file a support ticket requesting clarification.

https://support.2k.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000889214

#3

Yes that is the case. Further, you can’t even use DLC items while offline they will be disabled.

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#4

Hey, thanks for the clarification (yes, playing on PC, Epic Games Store). I saw threads where people were having to play offline without Gold Weapons they had online and etc., but I didn’t realize this applied to even playing the whole DLC offline. Question: Is this a bug yet to be fixed? Or is it by design for some weird reason? I can’t imagine this is how the game is supposed to work…right? If it is, they should at least advertise the fact that DLC cannot be used in offline coop…seriously. Anyway, I presume the same will be true for the new DLC that was just released too?

#5

Moved to PC TS. I really have no idea whether this is a bug or something else. As I mentioned previously, all I can suggest is filing it as a bug report - especially given your internet situation.

#6

SOLVED: My partner and I figured a workaround to be able to play any of the BL3 DLC content offline co-op. If you are having this problem, maybe it will work for you too.

The original problem: We live in a very rural area with super limited bandwidth, and with data caps. Playing online for hours on end to co-op BL3 is not an option, but the BL games are great in that they can be played offline in LAN, no internet required. Yay.

BUT while the main campaign can be played on two separate PCs in a LAN configuration offline (connected directly together instead of connected through the internet), the DLC story campaigns in BL3 won’t work that way. After finishing the main campaign, when we attempted to start up the Moxxi’s Heist DLC (as well as Guns, Love, and Tentacles), the start locations simply would not show on Fast Travel Stations when we were in an offline LAN connection. Likewise, if we hopped online to start the games and saved the game in a location inside the DLC, quit, then attempted to connect in LAN offline to continue, we would get the error: “This game was saved in an add-on that is not currently available.”

We discovered the workaround by accident: We decided to eat up some of our precious internet one day and play some of the DLC anyway online. BUT while we were playing, a giant thunderstorm rolled in. At some point both of our games froze for about 3 seconds, but then they resumed. So, we kept playing anyway for an hour. But then I got up to get some food, and I looked at the lights on our modem, I noticed that the internet was completely out, no signal. It had gone out a hour ago when the storm came through. BUT WAIT: WE WERE STILL PLAYING THE MOXXI’S HEIST DLC! WTF?

So, we realized that in order to work in offline LAN, the BL3 DLCs simply needed to be started online (and both players actually have to be in one of the DLC locations), but then the internet could be shut off (just turn off your modem), and as long as both computers are on the same network (through the same router), the games would freeze for a moment with the loss of internet, but then they eventually continue on as normal, no internet required. We’ve tested it 4 or 5 times now, and it works every time.

So, for those of you out there who want to play co-op in a LAN config offline on PC due to limited internet, give this workaround a try. Pretty simple actually.

And also, finally: If this works (and it does for us), then why can’t Gearbox just make the damn DLCs work offline naturally, the way the main campaign does? IRRITATING!!!

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#7

It seems to be that this only affects those using the game through the Epic launcher. It’s not clear where exactly the problem lies - in the game, between game and launcher, or in the launcher.

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#8

That’s awesome that it worked out for you, yeah! Pretty sure Epic is working on the issue even though they closed my ticket without resolving anything. Every week or so I jump on to grab the free game & whenever there is a launcher update I test BL3 again and noticed with a recent update you could indeed keep playing the DLC if you lost internet.

Fingers crossed, maybe by 2021, it will work as promised