I don't mind Patreon. I don't mind when mods are behind a paywall as long as they're released publicly. The way I see it, waiting for the free version tells me that it's completely ready for release; that the "kinks" are out especially if it's a new mod. I would rather wait the extra two weeks then have to figure out why I'm getting a LE or a BE for a mod that I just downloaded. But that's just me.
In the beginning, I avoided Patreon because I had never heard of it, then I started browsing some of the modders' posts and found yet another place to "mod shop" and now I go on there to find mods a lot, but mostly to update my mods.
Sometimes I find myself jumping between a modder's patreon and their tumblr or MTS page.
I do however remember one modding site that goes back to Sims 2 or was it Sims 3? Their reputation was to charge for all of their mods. Nothing was free and everyone said stay away from it for that reason.