I'm sorry that your experience hasn't been a positive one. Hopefully, EA will provide a toggle. If not, there's a chance that a modder will provide a way for you to take back control of your own game.
I'm in a similar boat as you. I don't use live mode very often. However, I do rely on TS4 for storytelling through poses and screenshots. I have maintained control by not allowing my game to update unless I'm positive that a patch won't have a negative impact on that. As a result, I haven't updated in quite a while.
