As a sort-of amateur games maker myself (Only one finished work, and it's total rubbish, but I have many barely-started, much better, projects), may I offer up the possibility that it's not so much lack of effort as lack of talent?
I love making games, but I can't sprite worth a damn. Using rips serves both to make a fangame seem more authentic, and allows those of us with the artistic ability of a blind chimp to still create games.
Heck, it even mentions that possibility in the HOTU review!
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