Game won't start without connection to the internet?

I got a new laptop a month ago and installed the game and a few expansions. It worked fine.

We're having bad weather and I've discovered that I can't play without signing in to origin and I can't sign into origin while my Internet is down.

What the heck? Since when is TS3 a game that I have to be connected to the internet to play?

I thought EA stopped this crap after Sim City 😡