#there are good eacc creators | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yooniesim · 2 years

Note

AxA gets away with making the same crop tops and pairs of jeans for every CC pack and ppl really pay for it wow

the new pack looks really nice to me at first glance but there's a good amount of recycled items in it. by that I mean, a lot of meshes and textures that are from previous packs they've made.

items in the new pack on the left beside older items on the right. The hairs are inexcusable to me. the last one especially, it's literally the same hair as the latest one up for free on his page, just with the hairline moved over slightly. Literally doesn't even need new hair chops.

If it was free I'd have no complaints at all, but AH00B is literally making a minimum of $6,444 a month if all of his 3,222 patrons are there for his $2 early access. And if it wasn't for Ayoshi, it seems, patrons would be getting 3 hairs a month only. Can you imagine making 6K+ a month to make 3 small hair edits?

On that note though... AH00B/Austin has had me blocked since I answered this ask yesterday, saying that no one would call him out for still doing early access when it seemed EA had banned it (for fear of getting hate or blocked), without me ever interacting with him otherwise. Ironic, I know. Which was extra strange because Ayoshi and I were having a long conversation about clearing the air regarding the early access situation, and in the middle of that I realized I was blocked. I sat on it a bit, because I have to say that Ayoshi was extremely patient in his conversation with me and I truly believe he wanted to have a genuine discussion. But he is not the owner of the patreon and all the responsibility does not lie with him. Even if they are best friends, Ayoshi is not the one that should be handling this for him. And since then, Austin still has not unblocked me or made any move to indicate that he wants to discuss this with anyone or hear any sort of criticism. He has no obligation to speak with me or anyone else, but I can't understand how the air can be cleared if everyone involved isn't willing to communicate with one another, and Ayoshi was the one to reach out to me rather than the other way around.

I understand having anxiety and not wanting to be criticized. But this isn't drama. These people are running businesses, with a good amount of cash involved, but not wanting to actually manage their business. Business owners need to put out statements and hold high standards to match that of their customers, and if they don't, what happens? They go under. Even if the community itself doesn't matter to you, a time comes when you have to put your big boy pants on and do something to at least protect your income. Either by changing your model and actions or looking for another job. If EA's latest flip flopping made you panic, good. As I said in the DMs, it should be a wake-up call. And if getting criticism against your business is causing you such unrest and anxiety that you cannot eat, sleep, or function properly, you need to pause your patreon and cc making and seek help for you mental health immediately. If that's not the case, and you're still able to function here, you need to get a handle on your business.

I don't see Austin or any of the other top cc creators saying a word about any of the problems with early access, not even to call out the "bad ones" they like to point to so often to deflect from themselves. Within the past couple days, eacc creators have been sharing patron's personal information and setting crazy long "reasonable" time periods, and I haven't heard a word from any of them about it. Why? It doesn't matter to them. The community doesn't matter to them. Just like it didn't when exclusive creators were doxxing and harassing and all any eacc creator could do was say, "well that's awful, but I'm not like that, don't forget early access is okay and we're not scammers". They got more angry about someone making a list of everyone that was continuing early access, which was publicly available on each of their blogs, than they did about the list of patrons' private information being passed around. All that's important is avoiding criticism and protecting their bottom line, and it shows every time something like this happens.

It honestly makes me sad. Many of the creators that have acted the way we've seen in the past few days, are ones I previously admired. AH00B is a creator that I've downloaded almost all the cc of, and his hairs were some of the first I recolored when I first started making cc. I use his and Ayoshi's clothing often in lookbooks. But because I expressed disappointment in him and others over early access, I'm considered a hater that needs to be blocked and silenced. Sorry, but that doesn't work for me. If we can't speak privately, I have to at least make my thoughts known on my own blog.

I don't think users are getting anything better from him now that he's getting paid, than they were when he was creating for free. The content is repeatedly recycled, and not worth paying for in my opinion. There is no engagement with anyone here other than to promote patreon. I don't think he's an active member of this community whatsoever, and like I said in the DMs: these creators are not people I can consider friends or peers anymore. AH00B is not a simblr, it's a brand. Its only purpose here is to make money and nothing else. And because of that, I can no longer support it.

I highly recommend giving the [deleted] a read, because I express more of my thoughts on early access and its effect on the community there. I have no ill will towards Ayoshi or Austin, but I hope that they realize the community is tired of all this. It's been drained dry, and whether any of these creators want to believe it or not, it isn't going to last much longer.

Edit: Ayoshi asked me to remove the conversation between us, so the links have been removed.

#asks #anonymous #ceci speaks #ceci speaks a lot more #long post #the patreon issue #ah00b #ayoshi #sorry to blast you with this nonny LOL

467 notes · View notes

yooniesim · 2 years

Text

I've seen a lot of people over the past couple days discussing patreon early access and whether or not it's included under ea's new policy. Most seem to agree that exclusive/perma-paywall models are bad, and a lot of people seem okay with early access. So I thought I'd share just why I don't really approve of the early access model either.

1) Trusting patreon creators (in the sims community) with your private information is a risk. Unfortunately, it's been shown by exclusive and early access creators alike that it simply isn't safe to trust them with your info. Eacc creators (not just exclusive) have communicated with each other about those that have shared their content early, and the info they have can include usernames, email addresses, real names, and possibly even paypal information if you have it linked to your patreon account. Users have been doxxed and harassed over sims cc of all things. I, personally, don't feel I can pledge to anyone safely anymore, whether they're following the old 2-3 week early access model or not.

2) There is no quality control. There is no way to determine what you're going to get before you pay for it, and if it's not good quality, you're most likely not going to get a refund. Patreon doesn't make creators refund you, they have to decide to do it on their own. So you can have mods that don't work, ridiculous high poly meshes, no proper LODs, low quality textures, etc and you're stuck with that.

3) There are no standards. People on here argue a lot about what should be charged for and what shouldn't, because there's no consistent standard for what is acceptable or not. Should sims/tray files be early access? Recolors? Conversions? Only mesh edits? What about tiny mesh edits? Is it the time alone that matters? But if that's the case, how much time should a creator have to spend on something for it to be worth paying for? There's no agreement, and so what people will put behind a paywall gets more and more ridiculous over time.

4) New (and some old) accounts making patreons without interacting with the community in any other way besides making money off them. There's no standard for who should make an account and when, so a lot started out just with the sole intention of making money. Also, there are older creators that tapered off their interactions with the community to purely focus on patreon. Early access took over the community so completely because it was easy and anyone could do it, and so they did. This only furthered the problems with quality and standards of cc.

5) Early access creators becoming exclusive over time after they built a following. Also, other shady methods to make more money I've discussed in other posts, such as: making super tiny edits look more enticing by lumping them together in "add-on packs", linking their "free" content through link shorteners/simsfinds/tsr, steadily raising tier prices in order to access all of their content, releasing a piece of cc for early access then coverting the same piece of cc to another frame and putting it under early access again, increasing the early access time period or "forgetting" to unlock things on time, and more. All of this just shows me that many early access creators aren't much better than the exclusive creators. They're toeing the line to stay in the public favor, and perhaps avoid legal consequences, and nothing more.

6) Shifting the focus in the community from creativity to monetary gain. Modding communities (such as those for the Sims, TES, Fallout, Dragon Age, Stardew Valley, and many many more) are built upon learning from one another and working together to enhance the gaming experience. In other words, to have fun! Modders have done amazing things without having the goal of making money off of it, and while it's nice to have that as an option, the sims community shows that it winds up hurting more than it helps when it consumes to this extent. I've talked about this before so I won't go into it too much, but creators are burned out and tired, and other simmers are frustrated and bored. It changed the community as a whole and it shows.

As a concept, early access is fine, but in practice... when everyone is doing it, in so many different ways, with no sense of standards... it becomes a problem.

#text #ceci speaks #ceci speaks a lot more #long post #the patreon issue #nonsims #saviorhide

382 notes · View notes

yooniesim · 2 years

Text

I'm not sure what simblr's general opinion on this is, but peeking back in after my long hiatus, I have a lot of thoughts...

In my opinion, Patreon killed all of the momentum that ts4 simblr had pre-2020. I think we all know a lot of the bigger issues- permanent paywalls, creators doxxing and bullying, cliqueing up and sharing info- but I mean even besides that. I mean specifically early access, two to three week delays for releasing cc, the version of paywalling that most people (including myself) accepted.

It's good that creators were able to get paid for their work, especially during the pandemic. But I think, unfortunately, it had other effects too. I remember back then, being disappointed at how much was eacc, and that was only like 25% of the cc coming out, and it (almost) always was popular creators with high quality work. But slowly but surely, nearly everyone moved to patreon (which I've noticed has caused a lot of cc to be forever lost once patreons were closed/deleted) and 99% of the time it was early access or even exclusive. Many people started blogs with early access cc from the get-go, without having a presence beforehand, and those blogs seemed to be some of the most focused on blocking anyone that shared their cc. The cc varied in quality- it could be simple mesh edits that were still mostly ea, or recolors, or even just patterns sourced from other sites. It didn't matter what it was, it was just content for money, anything to pad out the month and keep patrons. Creators would do early access and then link the cc through adfly or to TSR or simsdom/simsfinds, one by one, even if it was supposed to be a pack. It wasn't bad enough to call out, but it was purposeful.

CC on tumblr became a business in a way it hadn't before, even with other paysites in sims history. And while some people are happy to donate to creators they like now and again... most people either can't or won't. Many simmers are children, and many simmers are adults with strict budgets, especially during the pandemic. And truth be told... they probably got bored. Because it's all terribly boring. CC shopping isn't fun anymore. It's the briefest serotonin seeing something interesting on your dash and then instantly flying away when you see you'll have to wait almost a month for it. And if it wasn't a creator I really liked, I forgot about it instantly after that... sometimes even if I really liked them. Motivation dropped. People stopped being excited, and stopped playing.

Nowadays, it seems even worse. Because the amount and variety of cc and creators has dropped drastically. I'm shocked to see 2-3 cc posts per day, if that, most of them paywalled. It isn't just cc posts either- used to you couldn't look in the s4cc tag for cc, it would be so crowded with non-cc sims posts, but now it's depressingly easy... and empty. Lookbooks, edits, gameplay, cc, it all seems more sparing. And you don't see the same creativity, the same fun random little items, stuff that was interesting even if it wasn't necessarily perfect. Or wild ideas or cc that would appeal to certain small niches. Because that isn't profitable, is it? When you need to create a certain amount of items per month at a certain quality to keep patrons and therefore income, you have to strategize, for good or for bad. Some people are able to do that, and while good for their business model, it limits what they can create and how much energy they can spend on each item. Some people aren't able to do it, and burn out and leave. Either way, creativity suffers. Enjoyment suffers. Creators leave from the passion being sucked out of their hobby; non-creators leave from frustration and boredom. And you're left with a handful of creators still going by their cc business playbook, month by month. But how long can those few sustain themselves?

It's natural for communities to ebb and flow, or even completely die out, but ts4 simblr had been going strong for years before this overall, even if it was in waves. In the pandemic, it should've flourished the way other many other communities did, especially gaming focused ones. But, it didn't. Instead it slowed down, more people left than the amount coming in, the engagement died down, and it seems like as a whole custom content hasn't advanced at all. Maybe it would've happened anyway, but I honestly think patreon contributed a lot. Also, ts2 and ts3 communities weren't affected in the same way, afaik, which makes me think it was paywalls even more.

Can it be fixed? Maybe. If paywalls weren't as much of a thing anymore- and I don't mean completely gone, but just a fairer ratio- I think it could. But now that it's become a standard, I doubt that will happen. I think most people have moved to other places where they don't have to deal with it, like discord servers, and simblr will continue to lose momentum.

It's good for creators to have the option of getting some income for their work, but I guess I'm just saying... at what cost? Beyond the monetary? If you're not super popular, are you even making enough for the added stress to be worth it? If you are, is this going to be satisfying and maintainable long-term, without burn-out/effects on your mental health? Who will pay for it when the number of players keeps dropping? And will this continue on to the Sims 5 community in the future? I honestly hope not.

#text #ceci speaks #delete later #ts4 #sims 4 #the patreon issue #this may be unpopular #especially with other creators #and i could be wrong since i havent been around for a bit #but this is what it feels like to me #long post #im just disappointed #and a little nostalgic #no one asked ceci #sorry creators that are actually great #and need the income #its all just sad

641 notes · View notes

yooniesim · 2 years

Note

Can I just say that ever since the whole thing I've seen less EA content, because the people I go to find cc only rb public ones etc but also it feels less shoved down my throat like I actively have to search for those posts now and it's refreshing and peaceful I really appreciate how it seems like some changes have been made somehow.

I'm really happy that people seems to promote more the creators that make free cc etc and to see them more than before!

I also hope the community get more and more active and engage more with each other in the future I miss this kind of energy around

I've felt the same way nonny, it's so refreshing! I really hope we keep this energy bc all this paywalled content needs to go. I think we really need to be focused on these methods (some of which you already said):

only reblogging eacc after it's gone public

not promoting eacc or perma paywall creators' content (for example, in lookbooks or by answering wcifs)

promoting always free creators as much as possible and donating

sharing paywalled cc and not paying for it whenever possible (Dollhouse Mafia, TS4 Rebels, discord servers)

holding any paywalling creators accountable for terrible behavior (doxxing, harassment, etc) and shady business practices (low quality, extensive early access periods, charging right before the end of a month, etc)

I think if people focus on this, it'll be a good way to keep this momentum going ✌

#asks #anonymous #ceci speaks #the patreon issue

82 notes · View notes

yooniesim · 2 years

Note

So many people after clarification on EACC are showing EA they cannot be trusted with the permission of monetarily benefitting from their content and that’s so saddening. EA continues to give leniency and it’s being incredibly abused, as well as back to adfly? are you serious? I thought this ended years ago where we all nodded our heads in agreement that adfly was harmful and KNOWN for putting trojans & other viruses onto your computers.

I’ve been in this community since i was a child and It’s incredibly disappointing to see where its led up to. from free CC, to EACC which most people were typically content with as long as it fell within the 2-3 weeks rule; myself included, now to complete abuse over the leniency of EA. As an artist, you learn to manage your expectations with regards to the occupation in that you CAN make your work into a career but to not expect it or to expect it to be entirely stable.

Seeing CC creators treat their art like it absolutely MUST be a career for them rather than a hobby for them to create works they themselves are proud of is extremely disheartening. As an artist I believe everyone has their own right to have compensation for their work, however, when that work shares with a companies game there has got to be an understanding and a line between the compensation.

I highly suggest nobody partake in the creation of CC, or any form of art if their expectation is solely reliant on it becoming a stable career and for no other purpose than that. because i reiterate it CAN Become a full-time job, but you have no guarantee how long it’ll stay that way.

If you don’t create art, and these sort of works without the motivation of pure enjoyment of the creation, I’m not sure what you’re doing.

I never speak on things such as this and especially given this topic is a bit hot right now & may get me in trouble with some creators, just know my intentions is never to diminish the effort CC creators put into their works or to say they shouldn’t be allowed compensation; but It’s incredibly foolish to believe so many people thought this could and would always be a stable job for them

This! You make great points, anon. Honestly I don't think paid cc is good for creators or the people consuming that cc. I have had so many creators tell me that patreon caused them more stress than it was worth. Even the ones at the top seem stressed and burned out. And now reliant on something that could be gone at any time. If this game dies out completely, or EA decides they've had enough, what then? Other modding communities aren't going to allow this, they'd throw you out on your ass for trying to monetize mods, especially cosmetic ones. Maybe second life would be an option? (I know nothing about SL lol) If anything, maybe they need to start utilizing their blender and photoshop skills in other fields in order to find something more stable that doesn't rely on a specific IP. That is to say, if they're relying on this for their entire income. Or, if they're not disabled and can do non-stay at home work, look into other career paths. Bc this could end at any moment really. But they might be working on that already and I hope they are.

#asks #anonymous #ceci speaks #the patreon issue

18 notes · View notes