Since all perma-paywall CC will now be made free and it won’t cost someone $300+ to pledge and download the ungodly amount I’ve amassed over the years to load my builds, I’m going to release the popular ones once I’ve finished running batch fixes, updated certain rooms, etc.  I’ve never created early access or exclusive CC and only take donations via Patreon, or the odd private commission, therefore none of EA’s TOU changes will change how I’ve chosen to release content over the years, apart from making fully furnished builds more accessible for those of you who are interested in them. 

Honestly, it all seems ridiculous, but I’ll add my two cents I guess.

I feel for those who rely on making sims custom content for income, I do. But from where I’m standing, this community has been extremely privileged. That privilege was abused and now it’s gone. It doesn’t matter if you abused it or not. We’re a community, which means we get rewarded and punished as one. Is that fair? No. Welcome to life. You’ll find unfairness is a recurrent theme here. But what ISN’T unfair is EA’s decision. We won’t talk about their execution of said decision. They never execute anything right.

I’ve been a content creator for anime and book fandoms far longer than I’ve been in this community. It can take months or even years to complete a fanfiction work. The stories can be just as complex and involve just as much research as a New York Bestseller, and they can be two or three times as long. Art can take hours or weeks and requires supplies, which is rarely cheap. I’ve spent countless hours and poured my blood, sweat, and tears, into some of the things I’ve created. 

I don’t make a single cent. I can’t.  I can’t even ask for donations on the sites where I post my stories. I don’t get money from ads either. It sucks, but it’s necessary. The fact that I am even allowed to write and share my stories or draw the characters is a privilege, and it’s one that we nearly lost for good. I can write about volleyball players working in a coffee shop because the people went to court and fought for the right to do so. Because the people currently in the communities are still fighting to keep that right. And if I put my work behind paywalls, I threaten that right. And if others followed my example, the days of cease and desist letters, site shut downs, and fandom deaths could easily return. I don’t have a right to profit off of someone else’s work, regardless of how much effort I put into my own work.

And that’s okay. Fandoms aren’t supposed to be your job. They’re supposed to be your HOBBY. You’re supposed to put the time, effort, and resources into them because you want to, not because you get paid to. You’re supposed to make content for yourself, not for capitalism. 

The sims 4 belongs to EA. Whether the game would be half as good without mods and cc isn’t the point. Whether you used their meshes and textures isn’t the point. Your work requires their game. Their game isn’t entirely worthless without you. Your nice coffee table would be worthless without their game. Your nice coffee table requires their hard work to have any value. Have I rephrased this enough yet? 

Unlike Disney and J.K. Rowling, EA is still allowing you to make money off of their hard work, because cc and mods make the game better, which means they indirectly profit off of you just as you indirectly profit off of them. But it’s their right and responsibility to regulate the market and maintain a sustainable balance. They’ve exercised that right. 

Making money off of their creation was never your right. It was a privilege. No one is disrespecting you as a creator. You weren't hired by EA. It's not your job to make cc for their game and it's not their job to make sure you get paid for it. If you wanted them to care about whether or not you can pay your bills, you should have applied for a job with them. 

And on that note.... THE MAKERS OF THE GAME ARE CREATORS TOO. Just because they work for EA, doesn't mean you get to disrespect their time and effort, which is what you're doing when you make money piggybacking off of their creation without their permission!

Because, I repeat, the game has worth without you. Your cc doesn't have worth without the game. They will sell their game even if you stop creating cc for it. You can't sell cc for a game that doesn't exist. You are not the victim here. You are not the one being disrespected.

THE SIMS POLICY ON MODS

We know that for many of you, Mods are an important part of your game experience.  For that reason, we support a framework in The Sims 4 that makes it easier for you to install and use Mods.

The Sims team doesn’t pre-screen, endorse or specifically support any particular Mod. You should use Mods with caution and understand there may be risk.

We have a long tradition of supporting creativity in our community.  We do not object to Mod developers continuing to share their amazing content, subject to the following:

Do not promote your Mods in a way that suggests they are endorsed by or affiliated with The Sims, Maxis, or Electronic Arts. This means you cannot use any game logos or trademarks, including versions of the plumbob, or key art designs to promote your Mods. You may state that your Mods are for The Sims 4 and/or for a specific game expansion pack.

Mods must be non-commercial and distributed free-of-charge. Mods cannot be sold, licensed, or rented for a fee, nor can Mods contain features that would support monetary transactions of any type. Note, The Sims recognizes that creating Mods takes time and resources. To recoup these development costs, Mod developers may:

Offer an early access incentive for a reasonable amount of time. After a reasonable early access period, all users must be able to access the Mods in full for free regardless of whether they donate.

Run passive advertisements and requests for donations so long as they are limited to the Mod website or distribution site, and do not appear within the Mod itself.

We reserve the right to address any inappropriate Mods, including Mods that infringe the intellectual property or privacy rights of others, contain obscene, objectionable, or harmful content, jeopardize the integrity of The Sims 4 gameplay, or otherwise violate the EA User Agreement.