>>7588568I halfway disagree, I really like modern sets like Speed Champions with sideways and upside down building techniques all over the place. The old sets did invite mods and mocs more but I think, the bigger change came from marketing, it really seems instead of a building block toy TLG is selling lego-style model kits.
There's still room for alt builds. Just check out this guy's flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142349869@N04/ 