Doxing Ring; My Take
Patreon itself is not a bad platform. I've supported a couple of wonderful people and projects on the platform (GB Patch, Gatobob, Leahlillith, etc.) so I'm not going to blame Patroen as a whole. It's the people who occupy the platform, abusing it, that should have eyes upon them.
If you are not aware, a few days ago, it came to light that there were a number of large creators participating in the doxing and mass banning of patrons who they suspected were leaking their content.
Listen, it’s okay to want to protect one’s creations but at no point, leaks or not, is it alright to dox or manhunt someone over it. We as creators for The Sims, hold no copyright over what we create for the game.
Despite the screenshots that circulate saying otherwise, it doesn’t matter what programs we use, whether our meshes use EA’s meshes as a base or are made from scratch.
Everything that we create for the sims is open to the community, 100%.
We have no right to file copyright claims, harass, or dox people who choose to share what we create. We are not companies; these are not leaks nor piracy. We are not owed money by the community.
It’s sharing, that’s it.
Before my Patreon, I’ve seen what greed does to creators. I know about the doxing of the owners of the 1st and 2nddown with Patreon sites. I know how vicious current & past greedy creators can get and the lengths they’ll go. Attacking others, doxing children, even willing to harm the very people who pay them a wage. They’re so comfortable in their nonsense they feel like they can escape the consequences.
It is time for this to stop.
You may think it’s just a name and an email but sometimes all you need is a name. Sometimes all you need is an email. A tumblr user going by the name Mack, was able to find the personal Facebook and other private info of one of the people on that spreadsheet simply because they were using their real name.
This is why it’s serious. You can do so much damage with just an email or a name. These creators so frivolously expose and put their patrons at risk due to their greed blinding them.
That is why when I made my Patreon, I told myself that I would always keep my visons clear, to not let money cause me to do things to people I wouldn’t want done to myself. I still feel that way because I know how fragile trust is. Even if it never comes up here, I know it’s there.
I want every single one of my followers and patrons to know that I do not use your emails or names maliciously. I have never participated or contributed to this or any list and never will. If you’re a patron of mine or are thinking of becoming one, please know that I will never do anything to betray the trust and faith that you put in me. I’ve said this before but if you ever want to share my content with friends, on Telegram, F95, wherever; go for it.
I want my cc to reach as many people as possible and I would never punish or put people at risk for that.
Do not put a game before your personal security. Please take a few minuets to read this post from LlazyNeiph to see how you can stay safe when using and pledging to creators on Patreon.
Love you all, please stay safe.
*Please note that I reached out to the op of the first post to get the list to see if I could warn anyone who might've been pledged to both myself and one of these horrible creators. I have gone through the names on the un-censored picture of the list and as far as I'm aware, no one pledge to me is currently pledge to any of the currently known creators that participate in the doxing.
Comments (15)
I became a patron of yours because of this. The whole thing has me scared to subscribe to anyone else. I'm a bit paranoid now.
Firstly, thank you for supporting me but I'm sorry if you found me this way! There are patreon creators who aren't shady! Just avoid the ones who send you single use links, don't give you cc you've paid for and/or give you the run around or block/ban you for seemingly no reason.
I love your work I have always followed on here and over on LL,
I don't go on tumblr as that site has always confused me, so if someone doesn't send me a link to something specific (like this post) I just don't open it. This morning in a Discord server I saw people talking about the doxing and I got really nervous because I support a fair amount of creators (none of whom I thought would do this, but I guess you never know) and I want to be able to continue supporting people's talent and hard work. Luckily, I've never heard of any of the creators mentioned in that post, so I haven't wasted money and trust on any of them. (Well, I do love Anto's hairs and I have a lot from TSR. I hope he isn't really involved :/) It seems from what I've read here and from other creators, as long as you aren't getting a link from the creator (vs on their Patreon post like 99% of everyone else does), then you should be good. So if you have to frequently/always leave a comment asking for a link from the creator - unsub/block/run. Do I have it correct?
Just about yeah, if you find yourself having to beg for cc you paid for and it's sent to you in the form of "single use" links, emails with links specifically for you, etc. Thats a big red flag. Personally, I hear about alot of people who convert doing this moreso than just trying to keep "leaks" from happening but it's really all the same. There is no reason for a creator to be taking months to give patrons the cc they paid for, sending content out via email or, personalized link to their patrons if the creator isn't doing anything wrong/shady.
Don't get me wrong, locking certain things behind a paywall can be useful (ie: in Gatobob's case, a game they need funding for) but to lock assets you create for an already-made game behind a paywall is bad, especially if you charge an absurd amount for access. Like, great way to drive away business. Ironic twist: I found you on patreon thanks to you releasing your cc for free. I saw it on there, liked it, ad decided to support you. Funny how free cc makes it easier to get patreons.
Yep, games like The Price of Flesh and Our Life are examples of projects that actually belong to the creators, 100% theirs, no strings attached because they were built from the ground up. These sim creators who do perma-paywall are trying to act as though they're in that category when it's just not possible since they choose to create for a game that they did not produce. I treat people how I want to be treated so it's simple for me to not be a major jerk. However it's an insane enigma why these creators treat people so poorly and build bad will in the community. It does nothing for their image and helps even less in their pursuit of money. They have people who look up to them and they treat them like dirt but you know, what goes around comes around.
The difference between you and assholes is that you don't keep your cc behind a paywall. You always release it for free after a certain time which is also correct according to TS4 TOU. I mostly support creators who act that way. Paywall creators can f*ck themselves. They usually act quite narcistic as well which results in such bullshit.
Mhm, because some people can't handle the power that comes with money. It blows my mind that there will be people who continue to support every single "creator" on that list that was called out even after everything thats come to light. I really do worry for the community sometimes...
thank you for being a human with sense i also understand i would not want my hard work just stolen but at the same time if i knew i had such a major talent that i didnt want stolen id make my own game
And thats alright to not want your work stolen, of course but these creators have other mediums they can go to and still retain their rights to their meshes. However, like I said on my tumblr, they don't want to do that because they either don't make their own meshes, can't make the fast cash they make on patreon, have to compete with better creators and, actually have to interact with people to build a brand. It's like that age old saying of "Everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to do the work required to get there."
Thank you for talking about this topic. I opened tumblr and was extremely worried because I am subscribed to several people for CC. Like this stuff is extremely scary, mostly because I usually get stuff strictly off of Patreon because it was supposed to be safe from viruses, etc. I love your content and respect you even more for speaking about this
It's very worrisome and it's not fair. You shouldn't have to be worried that the person you pledge to is sharing your personal info around. Even if it is just a name and an email, there a reason why it's against Patron's TOS. Also just a note, if any creator is telling your they're sending you personal links to their cc to avoid viruses that could possibly be on Patron, that is a bold face LIE. The only reason a file would be off the platform is if it's too large! Even then there would be a link to it on the post. I've gotten plenty of files on Patreon and have not gotten any kind of malware, virus, etc. The only way any of that would happen is if the creator tampered with the files themselves.
You were one of the very first modders that I kept coming back to find the content of when I finally felt like I enough spare mental energy to keep up with mods (between updates, out of date, being a bit of a data hoarder, etc). You've never given me a reason to regret that choice, between your creations, behavior online, openness, and your words. I've been disabled most my life, so being able to breathe fresh life into a game I love, to receive content without being made to feel guilty for not being able to contribute financially like I would absolutely love to do, and to also not feel that weird sensation of residual filth and dread over, well, piss-poor creator behavior. I think I've been at this now for... oh, maybe two years? Might be less. But I just want to leave that note. You've been an absolute gem, even if I'm normally a bookmark-visit-and-flee lurker. This doxxing shite is an absolute ego trip.
Thats what I love to hear, people should have to feel bad because they can't support someone 24/7, 365 days a year. If you can pledge, do it when you're ready and want to, not cause some creator is throwing a temper-tantrum about how people SHOULD support them because they decided to make this hobby a job. No one went to them and forced them to work "hours and hours", no one forced them to buy "expensive programs" with their own money and most important, no one was asking for their content. The community is not owed any creator a debt, myself included. That's it and these goofs can cry, threaten and scream all they want. At the end of the day, no one asked for what they create. So to try and impose it on the community simply because they're greedy just lets you know who they really are. I'm glad you haven't regretted pledging to me, that lets me know that I'm staying the course like I should. I'll never make people feel like they owe me, let alone for the choices I made. Never, never, never. Thank you for the support and kind words <3