actually, the example you use yourself proves that this is in fact a scam. and the massive difference between them.
you see, simps who give darkcookie money for him to make content for this game have been scammed, because he took the money and did not make more content. there is in fact less right now.
however, in stark contrast, when a simps give the e-thots money to take off their clothes or get in a hot tub, the thot actually takes off her shirt or gets in the hot tub... thus they were not scammed and got exactly what they paid for.
regardless of how you value the... uh.. product? (personally ive been i pirate for over a decade and pay for nothing) in your example, the simp gets exactly what he wants, but with darkcookie there has been nothing worth anything in 5 years. they do not get the product they paid for, thus definitionally it is fraud. that is to say, a scam by all metrics.