#ts4 paywall discussion

[celaenacc]

My Stance on Perma-paywalls, Early Access, and EA’s “nEw PoLiCy”

I really debated even posting about this or not, but I’m seeing so much hate and vitriol in this community targeted against creators that have played by the rules for years and have treated their followers/the community with respect, that I feel I need to say “Please stop the hate”. This post feels super long, but I hope that it helps clarify the situation and my stances thoroughly and effectively.

TL;DR: There’s no new policy and early access is not retired. Your “evidence” isn’t actually evidence of what you’re claiming. Stop treating early access creators like greedy criminals for no other reason than they’re still practicing early access.

Now that I’ve clarified that I am not addressing a “new policy” or an “updated policy”, let’s move to the hate some of you are harboring for early access creators in the community. Did you feel the same way about early access in relation to the EULA and community one week ago as you do now? If the answer is yes, then this conversation doesn’t apply to you. Since we’ve established the EULA/ToS for The Sims 4 has not been changed/updated, it should be obvious where I am taking this conversation. If you felt one week ago that simgurudrake’s allowance for early access was valid, then you still should today, as nothing has changed with the EULA. If you feel that an official sim guru (at the time) could not make that allowance, then that also has not changed. I’m not here to argue on whether or not early access is allowed, because the existing EULA would have it be a “no” and the simgurudrake comment (as well as an “EA App Team” member agreeing to its validity) would have it be a “yes”. I’m instead here to argue that whatever your early access stance was a week ago, that’s what it should be now. The only real change is that EA now has an actionable method of reporting EULA-violating creators and they might follow through on reports - that’s the only change and it’s not a policy change, it’s an enforcement change, which is different.

Edit: 350pm EDT : EA Help has updated the article to reflect early access still being allowed. So to all of the people who thought I was illiterate or stupid or whatever, turns out my stance was right. Please let this post die down now.

First off, to everyone claiming that EA “updated their policy on custom content”: They haven’t. This EA Help article that has everyone either celebrating, trying to figure out how to adjust, or outright going on a tantrum (specifically referring to a post I saw earlier saying stuff like “F*ck all of you” and “I’ll still love you when you all hate me” or whatever)- yeah, it’s not an update to their policies. It is a paraphrasing of the Sims 4 EULA; they used laymen’s terms to help those that can’t understand the terminology of the EULA to understand their already existing policies towards monetization of custom content/mods/”user generated content”. Some of us (including myself) asked them to do this via a petition we signed, which stated “To EA/Maxis, you have the time to release a paragraph-long statement explaining how the EULA relates to permanently paywalling UGC and the resulting doxing and harassment that follows players redistributing UGC that these creators have no legal rights to be committing crimes over. Use specific wording that cannot be manipulated, protect your players, and get yourself some easy positive publicity.“ EA did exactly this via the EA Help article. An End User License Agreement is not updated via a help forum article meant to help you “Learn about The Sims policy towards Mods” (their words); it simply serves as a rephrasing of the EULA to help users understand that permaaywalling cc has always been against the Sims 4 EULA. Please stop calling this a new policy, or an update to the TOS- it has not changed and saying it has makes the permapaywallers of the community feel like they previously had the right to practice permapaywalling, which has never been the case. 

As far as my stance on early access, I like to go off not only the aforementioned allowance, but also the fact that the EA Game Changers/Creator Network program has had and still has early access creators in it as of today (August 2nd 2022). If we’re going off what EA does or doesn’t allow as the “right” thing for our community, you need to accept the fact that EA says early access is provisionally valid. If EA comes out and tells their creator network to stop early access, then that will be an actual change and I will agree with you at that point that creators should stop early access. Until then, stop shitting all over respectful creators simply because they continue early access if a week ago you agreed with early access.

“But Celaena, we asked EA Help via chat for confirmation and they said early access isn’t allowed!” ~ Asking EA Help via chat is like asking the McDonald's cashier what McD's corporate policy is on trademark infringement of the golden arches. I’ve heard they spoke with EA Help chat supervisors: asking for a chat supervisor to rule on early access is like asking your local McD's shift manager about the corporate policies on trademark infringement. They don't have the qualification to state that it is or isn't allowed, and quite honestly, they probably would have said the same thing a month ago as they are now because they aren’t decision-makers at EA. Without giving specific details as to my personal purchases, I’m going to use the fact that Amazon chat once refused to refund me for a purchase they never even shipped and I emailed corporate with screenshots of what a chat rep stated was policy; CEO Jassy ‘s assistant made sure I got my refund and told me chat was wrong. EA Help chat reps =/= EA decision-makers. EA Help chat reps =/= confirmation that cancels out a sim guru’s statements or EA’s creator network existing practices. Once more for those who may not yet understand: Chat representatives or even chat supervisors are not qualified to confirm something as against policy when EA literally has a program that provides early access incentives to creators who practice cc early access; if EA does not want or allow early access on cc, EA will make their creator network not use early access on cc.

“But Celaena, the EA Help article says cc has to be free for all users.” ~ Absolutely correct, but it doesn’t specify when, nor does the legally enforceable EULA, just as always. Perma-paywalling = direct violation. If you’ve never heard of “Contra proferentem”, it’s essentially the legal premise of "interpretation against the draftsman" when there is ambiguity in a contract (such as an EULA). Meaning, legally speaking (and I’m not a lawyer or law expert, so for legal purposes, this is in no way advice and you should look into the relevant legality yourself before you make decisions), early access creators could very well not face any legal repercussions if EA was to pursue them, which again is unlikely because the creator network supports early access creators. Early access does not require money as the only way to use a mod/cc because you can wait 2-3 weeks at which point it becomes free for all users, as required by the EULA and the EA Help article paraphrasing said EULA.

“But Celaena, you’ve always seemed against greed and paywalling in the community.” ~ Also correct. I’m against permapaywalling as it is against the EULA, the community's best interests, and is overall fuel for classist assholes to belittle those that can’t or choose not to pay for pixel clothing from every creator that makes at least a quarter-decent piece of cc or mod. I’m against early access that is purposefully longer than 3 weeks as a habit (frequency of like once or twice over the span of years is understandable when it was completely accidental/unplanned because maybe they genuinely forgot to schedule public release once or something serious came up). I do not see early access as “paywalling” because you have the choice of waiting instead of paying, therefore you could just as soon call it “waitwalling” instead of “paywalling”. If you can’t wait 2-3 weeks, then you might be the greedy one in the situation- and the reason I say might is for exceptions like pride cc being locked till the end of June or early July, or a game saving fix that’ll be patched/not needed anyway by the time it becomes a public mod. As a friend of mine likes to say, “it’s not black and white”. But as for the greys I choose? They’re closer to the side of early access than not.

“Celaena, there are early access creators acting absolutely horrible and throwing tantrums over this; they don’t deserve to make money off the community.” ~ Completely 100% agree with you there. That type of behavior should be seen as unacceptable here and they do not deserve money if that’s how they act. I want to specify here that this is not referring to great, respectful creators who have been explaining unfair treatment against them and asking for it to stop while remaining mature over it. This is referring to posts (and I’m not going to link it because if you haven’t seen it, you don’t need to) that are just like “Fuck you, fuck EA, you’re all going to hate me but I’ll still love you anyway, screw you,” etc. If you’re that creator, listen, I understand the hate that was coming down on you over continuing early access, but that response was a) clearly going to get you more bad rep and hate sent your way (to other readers, don’t send them hate, just move on from the situation please), and b) not at all the way to show you love your followers despite using those words somewhere in there. I’ve never heard of you before the last 12 hours, but I really hope you can find a better situation for you than this community you seem to hold rage towards; seriously, I do wish you well, it is not sarcasm. That being said, I want to see creators that react this way leave our community, but not by being harassed out, please just ignore these creators till they feel staying isn’t worth it rather than tagging or messaging them with a bunch of hate and attention. If any early access creator needs a tone reader before posting, just ask me or anyone else in the community, I’m sure there’s a lot of us who won’t mind helping you say the right thing the way you mean it. If you don’t care about what you say to the community and have the mindset of “can’t make money off you, don’t care what you think”, please get the fuck out and have a nice day. To the creators who do care about the community and are just struggling with what to do in this situation, please stay and wonderful day, you deserve the opportunity for people to choose to support you financially since you see them as people rather than dollar signs.

“Celaena, you’re just going off because you want early access money.” ~ If I get this as a response, I will genuinely laugh IRL because I’ve not only been on an accidental hiatus for like almost a year, but I also stopped even trying to practice early access back in like 2020 because it just wasn’t suiting my habits/self-discipline. When and if I create for the game again, it’ll be immediately free upon release, so I have no personal benefit from some of you chilling the fuck out about early access right now.

Put the pitchforks down and take a deep breath everybody. Do you want this community to move forward on a foundation of hate and vitriol? Or do you want it to be a place of understanding and actually coming together as a community to solve problems? 

Letters to Creators

To the creators who a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) are also continuing early access until EA publicly tells you using the words “early access”, I want you to know that I still appreciate you being here and I hope this situation gets easier for you going forward. If you don’t have the energy to write this much about why you’re not sure about the early access provision, feel free to link this post as an explanation.

To the creators who are a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) are discontinuing early access to be safe, I want you to know that I also appreciate you for being here and that I hope followers continue to pledge to you without early access. If you decide to go back to early access after reading this post, feel free to link it as the reason why rather than having to summarize this ridiculously long post.

To the creators who are a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) have already removed your paywalls, thank you for taking the policy clarification in stride and adapting with grace. You are also appreciated for being here.

To the creators who are not remaining respectful and community-oriented, please change that or leave. This isn’t the space for you. If you don’t like that, block me because I will not be arguing with you.

[minervamagicka]

introduction / pinned post.

Howdy - I'm Maddie, but you can call me Minerva, minervamagicka or any of the three. I've been playing the Sims since 2010 and making CC for just about as long; though my current focus is Sims 4 equestrian-themed content in collaboration with my partner in crime, Schrodcat, who you can find on DA. Both of us will have a hand in just about everything that is to be released on this tumblr & to DA.

cc master folders

I've reorganized my SFS into folders that I'll be linking below for folks to refer to when searching for my CC. If you'd rather get everything in one go, this is the easiest way to do it!

Click here to view the SFS folder for all of my SIMS 3 content.

Click here to view the SFS folder for all of my SIMS 4 content.

These folders (or, well, just the TS4 folder) will have all of my CC added to them as its' released so they'll always be up to date!

p.s. if any creators would like an SFS code please message me!

donations

I'm not going to proselytize too much concerning my stance on modding and financial compensation here, as it could be an essay in and of itself. What it comes down to is this; everything I ever post for download will always be and always shall be 100% free. It will never be paywalled, hosted behind an ad.fly link or for purchase. However, for those who may want to buy me a coffee so I can fuel my caffeine addiction and keep posting at the speed of sound;

My Ko-Fi & SchrodCat's Ko-Fi / SchrodCat's Patreon

Again; financially supporting one, either or both of us will not grant access to anything exclusive or tangible beyond our gratitude. Additionally, donating with suggestions or requests will not mean those ideas will be automatically fulfilled as if they were a commission. This is just if you wish to express some thanks and get us some drinks!

requests / 'can you do xyz?'

I'm always happy to receive any requests or suggestions for what to release next, however me & S already have quite the list of personal ideas we want to get through first. Therefore, any requests we get will be secondary to those until we finish.

'what are you working on right now?'

S & I have set up a proper Trello board to track our progress on our original meshes & game conversions. You can view it here!

'how can i learn to mod?'

My friend Schrodcat wrote an excellent DA post on this topic with links to resources & some very solid advice on getting into CC creation or modding in general.

'you didn't make [xyz game model], how dare you convert it to the sims?!'

As I've seen an uptick in off-site concern over my [Game]toTS4 conversions, I'm adding this disclaimer to my pinned post that I do not convert models for profit, and I do so transformatively and as a fan of the original work. If it continues to bother you that I do so without the explicit permission/support of the games I port from, I kindly ask you to not engage and to leave my blog.

To learn more, I recommend reading my initial statement on my SSO ports, or, if you're interested in learning more about my stance on modding and my belief in the 'moral economy' of modding in general, this published journal covering the subject may of interest, or this journal article explicitly discussing the use of copyrighted material in modding.

🎊 latest release

→ [MMxSC] Loose Ring Snaffle Bridle

[armoricaroyalty]

5 fave CC finds and resource blogs

This is a non-exhaustive list of just a few of the great blogs out there! It was hard to winnow it down to just five people, but here are a few standouts whose stuff I've been loving, lately.

@thefoxburyinstitute: collected guides and resources for simmers

If you're interested in using the sims as a creative medium, Foxbury Institute is the best place to find tutorials, guides, and other resources. Whether you want to make poses, recolor your favorite hairs in your favorite palette, or start posting your sims story, this blog has everything you need to get started and everything you need to continue learning and expanding your skills.

@ts4-poses: the biggest and best pose finds blog out there

Poses are invaluable to storytellers, but when you're trying to execute a specific idea, it can be difficult to find the exact pose you need on google or pinterest. This long-running blog is the absolute best place to find poses. The comprehensive tagging and organization system is second-to-none.

@alwaysfreecc: exactly what it says on the tin

With more and more monetization creeping into the Sims community, it's so refreshing to have a blog dedicated solely to creators who've resisted the urge to paywall their content. A lot of creators have spoken eloquently about the ways that the community inadvertently buries free creators, so CC finds blogs like this one are vital to supporting and boosting the people who are doing it just for fun.

@maxismatchccworld: one of the biggest and first MM cc finds blogs

Even as my own personal sims style has drifted more into maxis mix territory, I still prefer the overall look of the MM style. I always appreciate a well-run, well-organized blog that can point me toward stuff that compliments my aesthetic preferences.

@sssvitlanz: the cc finds blog to end all cc finds blog

There's a reason this blog comes up over and over again in discussions about the best CC finds blogs. Active, well-organized, and wide-ranging, you can find a little bit of everything on this blog. It's a great place to start when you're looking to CC shop!

[pictureamoebae]

NEW SUPPORTER DETAILS for 2023!

I’ve been using Patreon for a while now, and thought it was about time I had a refresh of the tiers I offer.

I’ve simplified things considerably. Now I offer 3 tiers and all that differs between them is the donation amount. I still don’t offer early access or lock anything away behind a paywall, that’s not going to change! 

I’ve retired the £6 Suggest-a-Build tier -- there are still some people subscribed to it, and they are welcome to continue to if they’d like! But it has been replaced with the Super Rainbow Tip Cup at £5 instead. No one ever actually suggested a build, so it seemed pointless to keep offering that. And £6 was a weird amount. I’ve never been fond of the number six. I hated turning six years old. Ugh, six. I don’t know what I was thinking.

I’ve also retired the old Get-a-Build and Get-a-ReShade tiers. When I introduced them I wanted a way for people to be able to request bespoke builds and bespoke ReShade presets, so experimented with creating tiers for them. But ultimately I think it was too confusing for many people who thought they had to stay subscribed monthly. So they’re gone now too.

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At the request and suggestion of a lovely Simmer over on twitter, I’ve created a Ko-fi page. They said that some people prefer to donate a one-off amount rather than monthly, and I agree, it’s definitely better to have that option! 

I am still offering build and preset commissions. I can discuss with people individually their needs and preferred way to pay. For the moment that can be a one-off donation through Ko-fi, or a custom Patreon donation (that you cancel so it doesn’t turn monthly). My pricing is flexible depending on your requirements. Get in touch if you’re interested! My availability is somewhat limited, so if you’re able to be a little free and easy with time-frames all the better.

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I want to take a moment to offer a big, huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me, in whatever way, over the years. You’ve always been patient with my erratic schedule, and with my long-winded way of going about getting around to trying to meander around getting my words out. You’re all lovely.

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And on the subject of patience, I’m making a concerted effort to get my game updated and then I’ll crack on updating Shiftable Mirrors. If anyone can let me know if there’s anything else of mine that needs updating please do so, I’ve not been keeping up with TS4 news so I have no idea what’s been caught up in the big update fray!

[sim-sizzlin]

“CC/Mods Locked Behind Paywalls - Creators cannot lock content they make using our game behind a paywall. While we do not police this content (there is no way we would create a team simply to monitor this) we do take reports sent to us seriously and action accordingly.

Patreon - We understand that folks who make CC / Mods for others to enjoy are doing it in their free time and may desire to offset costs to create the content by using this service. As long as the content is still made available FOR FREE we do not mind these types of pages. Folks who have a Patreon page are welcome to provide folks with "early access" incentives for their content but it should be made available to the general public within 2-3 weeks of it being given to folks early.“

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16175450/#Comment_16175450 straight from the gurus my dudes... 

[pictureamoebae]

What’s the point of someone commissioning you for a preset if it’s going to be shared with everyone else? It’s essentially someone paying you $15 for their own idea. I know paywalls generate lots of heat in the community but this is ridiculous. Just open a free suggestion box since that’s what your commissions essentially are. Suggestions. They are paying you to be able to suggest content which I find absurd. Signed - someone who wanted to commission you for this service.

I never want to create anything that isn’t shared with everyone. I like to share. Sharing is what makes the best parts of the TS4 community a place I love to be.

I have so many things planned I can’t guarantee having time to make the things people suggest, nor do I particularly want to make some of the things people suggest.

The way this works, however, is if someone asks for a build or a ReShade preset I will work with them to make it exactly to their specifications, with ongoing discussions about how it’s going, wip pictures, feedback, changes in direction as requested, etc. I’ll never do that with regular suggestions, I just don’t have the time. I put a great deal of time and effort into my builds and presets, and I hope that shows. This is an option for people who like the things I do and might not be able to achieve the same themselves, and it lets them get something made to measure.

I don’t ever expect to have a long line of people signing up for this, and frankly if that did ever happen I’d have to limit the number of slots because the time I put into each build or preset means I wouldn’t be able to fulfil more than a small handful a month anyway while still leaving time for me to do anything for myself in the meantime.

I’m not forcing anyone to do anything, anon. I never had a suggestions box before I started this, so nothing is being taken away from you. Just pretend it doesn’t exist and go happily on with your life, and have a great day!