Simless Homepage

I just got a brand new PowerSpec G763 Gaming PC the other day and got it set up and then added my Steam and Steam games onto it. Right now, I am having some issues happening with Sims 4. 

As soon as I launched it and it created a new Sims 4 folder, I noticed that the homepage was empty - no Sims like it usually has as a promotional thing.

These are the things I tried, some of these things multiple times (remembered it's a freshly launched Sims 4 folder so there is no CC of any kind): 

Cleared Cache including the localthumbcache.package & the localsimtexturecache.package & even my spotlight in the cachestr folder

Performed an App Recovery on EA

Cleared Download Cache on Steam, Repaired the Library & Verified the Integrity of my Game Files 

I've tried to toggle between Home and Marketplace and back again

Uninstalled and reinstalled 

Relabeled the Sims 4 folder to "The Sims 4 Old" and relaunched with a fresh folder 

After fiddling this for a while, I realized that now, I am able to launch the game and even though I can't see any Sims on the homepage, initially, I notice that some times I will be able to hit Load Game and go back to the homepage and the family is there, or I am able to load the game and play and when I go back to the homepage, they are there. So, I'm not sure I really have an issue anymore. 

I looked it up and got two responses of yes, it's safe to play and only one which says I'm not. The sources on "Yes, it's safe to play" were from Reddit and EA itself. They let me know that there are a few reasons for why it is safe: 

The missing household portrait on the main menu is a known visual bug introduced in a recent game update. Since your gameplay loads normally, your saves are safe, and the bug will not corrupt your files. It simply means the home screen is failing to render the 3D models of your Sims on that specific menu.

Main Menu Isolation: The homepage graphics are separated from your actual world saves.

Data Integrity: Your custom households, built houses, and story progress are stored securely inside your Saves folder, not on the landing page.

Corrupt Mods Only Break UI: This glitch is widely known to be caused by outdated UI mods (such as TwistedMexi's mods or UI Cheats Extension). It breaks the user interface visual layout but does not destroy live gameplay data (Jesse: which I have none of currently in my game) 

It also told me When you press the Resume or Load Game button, the game engine bypasses the main menu UI rendering entirely. It will load you directly into your chosen neighborhood map or household. As long as your gameplay script mods are up to date, your active characters will appear normal and fully functional once you are in Live Mode and if I wanted it gone to just delete the localthumbcache which will force the game to regenerate fresh homepage visual layouts without affecting your families.

The "No, it's not safe to play" responses are from YouTube and TikTok. I know, NOT real good sources for accurate info. They told me the reason it wasn't safe to play because this glitch is almost exclusively caused by one of two culprits:

UI/Main Menu Override Mods: Mods that change the look of the main menu, clean up the background, or alter the UI (like More Columns in CAS, UI Cheats Extension, or Clean Main Menu backgrounds) are broken and overriding the new game patch.

Stale Cache Files: The game is trying to read old data images that no longer match the current code.

In order to fix this, they suggested that I drag my entire Mods folder over to the desktop and then clear the localthumbcache and restart my game.

What a joke, considering I did this multiple times and I have no Mods folder. This fix only applied to people who had CC (and it is from YouTube & TikTok). I'm having this issue with no CC.

The game right now runs perfectly well and the only glitch is when I enter the game. Otherwise, I think I'm good, considering the above under the "Yes, it's safe"  it states that the homepage graphics are separated from your actual world saves and that seemed more credible of information. 

What do you think?