TW: Stalking, suicide, death, death threats, Zoophilia, Pedophilia, etc.
This is a long read. Sorry about that. I have lots of thoughts.
A Little Background for Those Not in the Know Regarding Sims "for profit" Modding Drama.
Okay, so I know I've already kind of talked about the implications of the new policy a little, but I haven't really talked about what I personally think about it. This seems like a good time though. I don't really expect many people to read this all the way through but honestly, I just wanted to say something about it.
As some of you know I was the old head of DHM (Dollhouse Mafia) and original founder. I stepped down a while ago because I was spreading myself too thin on personal projects and also, I didn't like the way things were going. I have nothing but good things to say about the current leadership, but it just personally wasn't worth it to me. ANYWAY, that being said, I wanted to put my thoughts about how the community has changed regarding its stance on pay content and how it used to be
So back in the days of TS2 PMBD acted as a receptacle for all pay custom content to be leaked. TSR, way back, was the biggest pay site in the community with several other smaller pay sites that specialized in hair or clothes. These sites generally had a specific style and very obviously made their own content. I couldn't tell you how much creators made but I know that other than TSR users it wasn't a huge amount.
So, The Sims team has pretty obviously always had a love/hate relationship with pay content. Even though it seems to have cooled they used to be VERY close to TSR. I know that they've always had a policy against pay content but it's never been enforced really. Like I said though, the only people who seemed to be making BIG money from non-passive income was TSR.
The reason that I bring this up is that I think the reason that things went so wrong isn't because of pay CC. I'm against pay CC and I always will be, we can talk about paying artists all we want but at the end of the day this is a hobby and if you're trying to use it as your main source of income you're in the wrong but I digress...
EA's Relationship with for profit CC
Fun fact, Patreon was actually started by the voice actor that played Teen/College aged men in TS2. I suspect that he got the idea from watching The Sims community try and set up their own personal online shopfronts and figured there was a way to do it better. I also suspect that many people who worked within The Sims Studio were pro-paysite because it created a demand that kept The Sims brand in people's minds. If people were making a living off of it then it was always being bought and you had people who basically HAD to buy it because that's how they made a living.
When talking about his new NFT (gross.) project Will Wright actually mentioned that one thing he didn't like was that piracy was taking place when Sims players were creating pay CC and others would pirate it. I suspect that the only reason they kept the policy they did was in case creators would make something that rivaled the studio in terms of quality (which according to Don Hopkins was an actual concern and part of the reason that EA's CC tools weren't super powerful, we couldn't create anything "too good")
Like anything to do with money, I think people who were mostly outsiders to the community realized that they could maximize profits through unsavory means such as flipping meshes quickly and reselling them from 3D modelling websites.
The problem is this created a flood of people who started using The Sims as their SOLE income and they began making good money too. Enough that they wouldn't easily be able to make that amount doing anything else without a serious career change.
Low Quality, Quick Profit, Unruly Community
So remember how EA decided they wanted to reach out and start the Game Changer program for the better by doing outreach to players by trying to interact with the community online. Then very recently they were like... trying to start a "sims social platform"? Yeah EA isn't really crazy about the fact that we're a self-sufficient community.
Most other gaming communities that have player made content tend to try and keep that player made content in an official store of some kind. Both so they can monetize it and use it as a selling point and also so they can control what can be done with it. Roblox is a GOOD example of how companies tend this sort of thing to play out. Communities that exploit creators and allow companies to control the player content, so everything aligns with the "brand".
Now, I'm just a person who REALLY likes The Sims and knows a lot about it so take it with a grain of salt but I suspect that EA is trying to find a way to keep us under better control. They've likely seen the messy fights that the patreon creators have been getting in. They've also definitely heard about the wide-spread availability of not just sex mods but sex mods that allow for pedophilia/zoophilia.
People can act like this has happened before in The Sims community but not like this. Before people were getting legal threats here and there and a few people were doing some bad stuff with the game but now we're talking doxxing, half of 4chan has started using The Sims as a sex playground, and people are making crazy money from it. EA was willing to overlook sex mods but I doubt they want a replay of the Jack Thompson case or to get the bad press that Habbo of Secondlife got for being bastions of pedophilia and perversion. It used to be that TSR was one company that made a lot of money and acted like a company acts to protect their business interests. However, now you have several HUNDRED people who were using The Sims as a get quick rich scheme and they were willing to attack community members to keep themselves living well. Not all of them, mind you, but it is an issue.
I suspect EA is worrying how this will look for the brand. It was okay when we were all creating a few mods and making pocket change from custom content. But now, because we've all been content creators we're getting better at it and it's causing problems (TM) for EA.
Both because their overlooking of pay content has backfired as it became more of a business AND because their players started becoming skilled enough to create things that both rivaled their own content and sullied their brand for outsiders and started attracting more and more unsavory types (cough cough ColonolNutty).
TL;DR: EA did this to themselves. They wanted the community to create for their games but didn't consider the outcomes of monetizing it. Now no matter what they do, some group will be mad at them. No matter what they do it's going to result in bad press... And you know what?
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Thoughts on EA's policy change on "obscene content" and Pay Content
This probably won't be of interest to people other than simmers who are very involved in the community so keep that in mind before you read but...
While the drama that is resulting from the policy change is funny, I do wonder what the long-term consequences will be. I also wonder how likely they are to act on the policy? Is it entirely for show? Is it going to be enforced only when they're pressured?
I'm also curious what EA's definition of "obscene" is. Turbodriver, the developer of WickedWhims, seems nervous enough about it that he's already updated his mod to exclude teenagers from sexual activities (as well as some other changes) but will that be enough, I wonder?
Since people can be reported by community members it also makes me wonder is going to rely primarily on the community to report things. Also will the retroactively impact older games?
I doubt that this is going to make any major impacts overnight but I do wonder if it will change the economy of CC creators. While I suspect many will just move to alternative under the table forms of payment if this IS enforced, it will make some leave. That will likely mean less CC for the TS4 community overall, but it will also mean being less inundated with shoveled out 3D models hastily converted to TS4.
Those who work on commission will be a lot better off since it's a lot easier to pay a single creator for a piece of content and hide that but since many patreon creators were simply flipping 3D models, that would be difficult to do.
I mean, this could lead to nothing. It could be that this policy change is just on paper as it has been before but with a way to report users and Turbodriver being nervous enough to change core parts of his mod, it makes me wonder.
This does make me wonder if we'll move back to an environment of passive income based on website ads? Many websites that make pretty massive income (think MTS) are completely free but make good money allegedly.
I guess only time will tell. While this won't end either paying for mods or mods that are considered "obscene" EA can't really control the player base so it mostly means that much of this sort of content will just be shared under the table and will make pirating it easier to do.
If they DO enforce the policy they may decide that any explicit sexual content is obscene and send C&Ds to TurboDriver and functionally drive WickedWhims and sexual mods underground. That would be quite a turn of events.
Most of The Sims games from the 2000s are quickly becoming abandonware! Here’s where you can find them! Because FUCK Article 13! Dedicated to ANYONE who might be affected. (Updated NOV ‘19!)
Just to add onto @uglytownie ‘s post about The Sims 2, I know there are some of you out there that would also like rarer titles from The Sims’ massive back catalog.
If anything happens to this blog because of this post: My NEW twitter handle is @nostalgiasim, my discord is SimWorld (this link never expires), and my personal Neocities page is myonlinepityparty.neocities.org.
PC Games:
The Sims 1 + All EPs
The Sims Life Stories
The Sims Castaway
The Sims: Pet Stories
The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection
If any of these links do not work for any reason, whether you need technical help or those files are no longer available, you can also find these abandonware games at Games4TheWorld. However, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 can also be found on that site and I do not publically condone piracy. G4TW world also has an extensive forum for getting these older games to work. You can look for help there. :)
All of the following games are emulator ROMS found on Vimm’s, a trusted website that has been around since the ‘90s.
GameCube:
Bustin’ Out
The Sims
The Sims 2
The Sims 2 Pets
Urbz, Sims in the City
Gameboy Advance:
Bustin’ Out
The Sims 2
Urbz, The Sims in the City
The Sims 2: Pets
PlayStation 2:
Urbz, Sims in the City
The Sims
The Sims Castaway
Bustin’ Out
The Sims 2
The Sims 2: Pets
Wii
The Sims 3
The Sims 2 Pets
The Sims Castaway
Prima Guides
ALL Games - The Sims + All EPs, The Sims 2 + All EPS, The Sims 3 + Almost all EPs, Bustin’ out, Castaway, Medieval, etc.
Extras (Updated!)
The Sims 3 Store (ALL CONTENT)
The Sims 2 Store
(Rare!) The Sims 2 Preorder gifts and Maxis Gifts from the now deleted TS2 Website!
Literally, if ANYTHING on this list goes down, message me. I’m not hosting any of it but I’ll absolutely put out another updated post!
Reblog for others! If don’t want it someone else might!
As we get down to the wire, it’s become a mad dash to save as much Yahoo content as possible. Without OTW’s (Organization for Transformative Work) help the archive wouldn’t be able to archive a FRACTION of the content that it’s going to archive. We’ve currently stored 400+ Sites and we’re looking to preserve Yahoo’s Sim groups as well.
During this time fandoms have banded together to gather as much fanwork as possible (including sims content) as well as fanfiction, fanart, and various fan work in communities for television shows, movies, bands, and other games.
If you have a moment or if you can reblog this to signal boost please do. The only way that we can retrieve, organize, and store such a large amount of data is by volunteer contribution. The only way that Sim Archive will be able to store this content is if you can help OTW’s Yahoo Group’s committee do its job!
You can follow along with the process on this Tumblr.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I just wanted to make an apology, I didn’t think I could write it. I thought it would be better to record myself talking about what happened. So here it is.
@themaresnestdumblr So I guess the drama finally ran dry so you decided to just... harass random Let’s Players on YouTube? Were there not enough EA forum posts to make unfunny jokes about this week or do you just hate women that much? I’m guessing every woman who isn’t giving you a handjob is a whore, Matthew? Also, I don’t know if you should really be talking about someone’s lack of viewership. TMN’s numbers aren’t looking so good.
So um, I’m sure you’ve probably seen this image before. I have sort of a confession to make...
I made the Steve Buscemi sun. I’ve sort of talked about it before but only in passing. It’s even part of the reason that I started SimNostalgia. However to this day I still see people asking for where to download him and I finally remembered where I uploaded him. Despite being a kind of weird in-joke among Simblr he’s only ever been downloaded like 15 times (as of writing this).
Download Steve here.
(Also if you use him please send me pictures because I want to see him lighting up your sky)
