I have only played homebrew in my 30+ years of gamemastering. I just prefer creating and tailoring my settings to what my players enjoy, as well as enjoying it myself. There's nothing wrong with Golarion, Greyhawk, Eberron, or the Forgotten Realms. They're just not my cup of tea. Having said that, I WILL cherry pick from different published settings for things I believe will fit in my homebrew.
I've made a few homebrew worlds, the most fleshed out being an adaption of 1850s Earth with magic, and an original world called Freehold.
My players have been with me a long, long time. Basically they only know homebrew. We've been playing some Paizo modules on occasion run by a member of the group. Only the GM is really having any fun.
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Golarion is a great setting. It's not the best setting I've ever played in (Ars Magica's Mythic Europe steals that trophy) BUT it is very close behind. James, Erik, Crystal, Wes, James II, Mark and co. know their stuff, much better than I every would.
And when you're thirty-something, with first job, second job, family and a cat to manage, you kind of appreciate somebody doing the whole setting building job for you.
I have a homebrew planar city called Mosaic, similar to Sigil, it would take too much time to create a whole world
I'm relatively new to this website, and the message boards in particular, but one thing I see a lot of is displeasure towards Golarion. I myself have mixed thoughts about it. My question is, with the rather extensive amount of advice the Gamemastery Guide gives for creating your own world, why don't more people do that?
I wouldn't say there's "a lot of displeasure toward Golarion" so much as "there are parts of Golarion that some people don't like/agree with." The thing is, the specific parts are often different with different people: Those that dislike guns and/or technology in their fantasy settings are against Alkenstar and/or Numeria; others don't want Mendev, the Worldwound, and a crusade against a demonic invasion; etc.
Because Golarion is, by design, a "kitchen sink" setting, there are going to be elements across the spectrum of fantasy to allow for wide potential variation in the types of possible campaigns. Inevitably, people being people, not everything will suit everyone's taste; however, "kitchen sink" settings are more financially viable to publish than more focused settings. It is also easier to ignore portions of a setting that don't "fit" with a specific adventure or campaign than it is to add elements to an existing setting (or create multiple settings for multiple types of campaigns).
As far as creating homebrew settings, it's possible, but there's a large amount of effort involved. Also, such settings are often less complete/polished than published ones.
What are some of the home brew worlds people have come up with?
I have a bunch, going back to 1st Ed AD&D. 2nd Ed AD&D (using the Player's Option books) and 3.x (using various supplements) probably have the greatest variety: changing the available races (or racial sub-types), classes (or class abilities), deities, magic systems, technology levels, etc. They are in varied stages of development, ranging from a basic outline to a binder with maps, history, and player handouts.
Mostly, I use them as a source of ideas and/or elements to include in other games at this point.