Rant: The early access model has kind of creatively bankrupted CC, actually.

Longer Rant: The early access model has sucked the heart & soul out of the CC scene by encouraging creators to crank out the blandest, safest, most low effort content possible as fast as possible, and it's caused CC as a whole to stagnate as the same three overused ideas and Maxis meshes get rehashed over and over and over again ad nauseum while creators continually push the boundaries of how little creativity/effort they can get away with expending while still making a buck. Creators are concerned about how much money they can make vs. if their content is actually good or if it even works in-game. And of course they are--this is just a job to them, not a creative endeavor or passion project. This isn't a community to them or even a fun game to play; it's just another market to capitalize on.

Tried to keep this all in the tags but it was getting a little ridiculous and I'm feeling long winded today so lets talk about it. First, I have some very dear friends that make EA CC as well as some very dear friends that make free CC. Either way you cut it, it's a ton of work to make original content, and I completely understand wanting to monetize the hours you spent on a set. It's a hobby that's a massive time sink.

Second, You're right. And I think everyone knows it. Besides the time commitment behind making CC, there's also a massive emotional and creative commitment. Having the creative spark or drive to make something that inspired you is fantastic, and can lead to a lot of very fun ideas. But strapping yourself to a monthly patreon model and forcing yourself to recreate that spark month after month is gonna wear on you. And when you know you have a guaranteed amount of money coming in each month, and you know you HAVE to produce, you get tired, you cut corners, you play it safe.

And the community eats it up, -oh but i never//oh i only reblog//- shh shh. You aren't who I'm talking about. The added price tag and two week exclusivity creates this facade of scarcity and luxury, (even if it's not that good!!) and it gets reblogged, it get saved, it gets stolen.

And this environment is especially oppressive for free creators. The people with that spark that maybe don't create as often but when they do release something they feel passionate and excited about they feel immediately passed over. Because the community downloads, tosses a like and moves on. - oh but i always//- shh shh, I'm not talking about you.

This game was released 10 years ago by a company that shot it in the knees and told it to run. The landscape of the community has changed over the years and there's no foreseeable end for TS4 in sight. A lot of older interesting creators have dropped off because of this, but there's still a lot of people out there making things that make them happy. @lumenniveus, @hamsterbellbelle, @nucrests, @laeska, @xldkx-cc, @myshunosun, @nolan-sims to name only a small number.

I know it sucks when you spend a lot of time on something you want to share with the community and you feel swept under the rug. But we can always tell when something is made with love. And conversely the community will always call out when something is made poorly with greed.

So if you sit there complaining about how all cc is boring and rehashed now, (not calling out anyone, just the general you) maybe open up S4S, make yourself a little recolor. Try a blender tutorial. Maybe you'll find yourself becoming the next interesting person making fun things for everyone to play with. (Just maybe don't monetize your learning process)

Enthusiasm is infectious. And as @symerr said in the tags, why not get a little silly with it?

This has been simmering for a while - pun not intended- and it wants out. Now.

There is this style that blends all of those creators together into one sludge. It's soft, woody and beige. You know what a beige mom is? Like that, but for CC. It sucks the life out of everything and suddenly you are in a ball of cotton that's the color of pale peach at best. Everyone suddenly needs it. Why? Nobody knows. Sometimes I have problems telling who made what because it all mashes into one lump of clay. Answering those WCIFs is a guessing game sometimes.

For a community that is always screaming for diversity, this part of the CC community is a homogenous bland puddle of goop. There. I said it. @surely-sims put it perfectly above already. There is no soul, no culture, no personality nor style in those pieces because if it is nothing then it is safe, and if it is safe it sells. Hell, look at what the TS3 store has to offer. EA is definitely slacking as well.

Not everyone is going to want retro-futuristic, fewer want trad goth, garage glam, post punk or historically accurate! -- but the few who are hunting it down appreciate its existence.

That out of my system I blame this all on influencers. Like, the real world influencers. This patreon stuff is eerily similar to their homes and clothes and I get the feeling people eat it up so much because they want to copy that. Influencers are fake famous, so why not be copycats chasing trends just like them in the Sims?