I wouldn't say that people don't want mods based on vanilla content. What I think most people want is something new and original, but that can be achieved with vanilla content and a few resource packs. For example: I would love to see more people put bathrooms into houses they make. Not big swimming pools with waterfalls and flowers or whatnot, but just simple, realistic bathrooms. I'd love a mod that does that, even if it's just vanilla building blocks, because it is something you don't find in the basic game. Adding a little bit of story to characters and settings can also help a lot, IMO, to create something interesting, And you have a lot of options to give a new look to old stuff, just inside the CS. Unique lighting can completely change the atmosphere of a room/house/cave, without using any 3rd-party resources or doing any modeling/texturing. But of all that I would say having an interesting story to your mod is what's most important. Don't just copy-paste vanilla houses. Take a vanilla house that's grand on the outside, but furnish it with lower class stuff on the inside because the owner is a guy who wants to make a good impression on his neighbours, but is acutally broke, or just miserly. Give him some dialogue that fits that personality and you will have something interesting, even if you are using just vanilla stuff. Creativity and finding unique ways to assemble common building blocks is your most important tool, I would say. Something else I think is important is an eye for details. An open book on a desk, not just some meat on a kitchen desk, but also a knife used to cut that meat, maybe a bucket under a table with some paper scraps thrown in to show a waste basket... Think of things you would find in a real house, things that would be there if you lived there. Some people like big and epic mods, but a lot of people out there also appreciate mods that are "real". That can be accomplished with vanilla content - if you are patient enough and put yourself into the scene.
