Do you use the NRaas mods? Has the information on the NRaas website and forum ever been useful to you? If so, a moment of your time please!
I’d like to share the current situation with Simblr – which you can also read about directly from the site owner here:
https://www.nraas.net/community/topic15428
While it seemed like we were entering an era of old-internet revival and indie websites in the fight against the dead-internet, a significant road block has emerged. Prices have inflated drastically for server parts, memory, storage, and server-hosting itself. This puts all non-profit online communities in peril.
As a result, the site owner has opened a Patreon so that the community can help cover the costs of keeping us online.
Important clarification:
The NRaas mods are NEVER going to be paywalled.
The project will remain open-source and free for everyone. Donations are optional.
These mods are still in active development!
The site and mods have been maintained by Chain_Reaction since Twallan's retirement, providing countless updates and support. Lots of cool stuff over there if you haven't updated in a hot minute.
There is no pressure to donate if your situation does not allow for it. Thank you for the consideration!
Long post ahead with information on the situation and some incentives for reaching membership goals.
If you've had some trouble accessing the site over the past week or so:
The situation is directly caused by the greed and encroachment of something we’re all uncomfortably familiar with: AI companies and the companies investing in them (of simmer relevance, that includes EA and Krafton (InZoi)).
NRaas is not the first nor will it be the last to be affected. Website servers already suffer from bots trawling and scraping their content – including your content that you write and share just about anywhere. Now they’re being bought off entirely.
Archives and file-hosting are at high risk. Myrient is a recent example of an archive that went offline for this very reason.
It can feel a bit grim, but I want to assure you that the burden isn't yours to bear as an individual. As a community, it's actually quite easy to become hostile - and more important, unprofitable - to these invasive species as it were.
The past 26 years of modding and storytelling was OVERWHELMINGLY built upon free software, non-profit websites, and shared resources. A few unscrupulous paywallers and corporate greed isn't going to rewrite that history. Greed is the minority - but it does try to eat everything in its path.
That's all I ask - if you enjoy the fruits of The Sims community or enjoy being a part of it, make it just a little more inconvenient to swallow us.
Do not tolerate GenAI in our community spaces.
Do not support EA or Krafton. Let obscurity and irrelevancy devour them.
Do participate in the community wherever you think you'd find a little piece of purpose - make a blog for your stories, come chat with us in the Chatterbox forum at NRaas, make your first mod.
Lastly:
In a separate post, I'll be posting some CC incentives that will be released as milestones are reached. This content will not be paywalled - it will be posted for free as thanks to the community.
This is being offered on my own accord and is not the official reward for any particular tier. None of the proceeds are going to me!
Please look out for that over the weekend, I still need to take all of the preview screenshots which is perhaps the least exciting part of making CC.
And thank you, on behalf of the volunteers at NRaas.
janainaart
romaincrisis
origamiaround
discoholicmusic
blakekathryn
stormborns
dededos
prguitarman
ellievsbear
