On 16 November 2023, I wrote this and put a link to it on my MTS page...
I will no longer be uploading any lots or texture mods for The Sims 3 or 4 to ModTheSims.info, on account of the fuckass EA Desktop app refusing to run those until I update it. The next time I update an EA product will be 5 years after my death, so it seems we've reached an impasse. Unless I can work out a pirated copy of the Sims 3 and 4 core games, there will be nothing more from me on MTS. Sorry to disappoint, but EA is a failing company that deserves to fail as far as I'm concerned.
So, what's changed? Why am I suddenly building in TS4 again? Let me be direct: I'm using FitGirl's repacked version of anadius' No-CD crack. In this way, I'm able to work around EA Desktop having a look round for data they can monetise by simply cutting the middleman out of the equation altogether.
Now, if one of the MTS mods reads this and decides to ban me for piracy, that's their prerogative; but they need to understand that I have committed no crime. I paid fairly for all of my TS4 and TS3 packs; EA Games got the money, hopefully some of it was disbursed to the original development teams (I doubt it), and the transaction was fair and law-abiding at all stages of the process. It was not until EA Desktop got in the way that I felt it necessary to protect my privacy by using a scene release of The Sims 4. The fact that I downloaded the core TS4 game and full battery of DLC packs from a deep web game archive does not change the fact that Electronic Arts, Inc., received approximately $150 from me across a 9 year span of time for the core game and whatever DLC packs I thought looked cool. Using anadius' DLC Uninstaller tool, I have dutifully uninstalled any DLCs I did not own (except the game kits whose existence as a paid DLC pack I have moral qualms about). Again, no crime has been committed here; the only thing I'm guilty of is protecting my privacy from a giant, multinational corporation seeking to make money off my very existence. While Origin was around, I could protect my privacy simply by airgapping my computer while the software was running, but EA Desktop precludes this by instituting a strict entitlement system, revoking my ability to use my lawfully-obtained game software after a certain amount of time. If you've clicked around my website at all, you'll know that I consider my privacy paramount and EA Desktop's stated goal was to undermine that privacy by taking an inventory of my computer and transmitting it to their advertising partners. This was unacceptable, so I did not authorise the license agreement.
It's like I wrote once; the corporate feudal state chained my ankles, left a pair of boltcutters nearby, demanded I stay away from the boltcutters, and then walked away. All that has occurred here is that anadius handed me the boltcutters.
--12 May 2024--