Four on the floor is not the same as 4/4 time. One is a drum beat, the other is a time signature.
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25 years ago I “got bored” of 4 to the floor, I had been using it for a few years, so I made the conscious decision to avoid using it. I had fun coming up with alternate rhythms, but ultimately for most of the music I produce 4 to the floor always ends up fitting the best.
So I gave up on the daft idea that it was too ubiquitous and formulaic, it is what you build around it that matters, and it provides a solid foundation for dance music which really has not been bettered IMHO.
But yeah 4 on the floor kick, with offbeat hats and bassline gets boring fast, so don’t do that.
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Disco and gabber both use four on the floor but no-one would say they’re the same.
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I very nearly started to make a list of factors/attributes that define genres then… bpm, instrumentation, scales, motif/pattern lengths, etc… but stopped myself… because it’s Monday. 
i always question the genres [in plural] i’m producing.
because any conventional genre is either boring or overdone.
but crossovers rock.
even when producing goa trance, which i love as it is, i always keep in mind its EBM origins and enforce them.
regarding 4 to the floor: for me it’s a super cool foundation. no one forces each and every part to be 4 to the floor — polymeters were invented thousands of years ago.
I don’t know what genre I make any more. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I don’t really think about it a lot.
When I released physical records it was marketed as hip-hop and the most notable thing I did was on Lex so I guess that’s primarily a hip-hop label. Since then things got labeled as turntablism when there was scratching on it; trip-hop when there weren’t emcees on it & beats when trip-hop stopped being a thing.
In my head, the music I make now is closer to that made by the people whose music I started off sampling than the people who inspired me to start sampling in the first place. It’s more Jean-Jacques Perrey than DJ Premier (purely in terms of style, of approach, not making any bold claims of quality or musicianship).
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I don’t really concentrate on what genre it is I try to make but I will have an idea/project in my head and I’ll keep it consistent throughout, whatever genre it might be.
Only when i want to upload things to a streaming service and abandon the publication because I can’t decide which tag’s to select. My techno is very tribal, my dub very ambient and my wife defines most of my productions as noise. Now i think of it i might refer every track to dixieland gospel deeppolka flunkhop😁
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Most of the time, I leave the Genre and Tags empty on Soundcloud.
I question these things all the time, or I used to until recently. Two thoughts:
Once you’ve got a handle on the tools and techniques of the general genre you’re going for, the number one thing needed is intention. What are you trying to convey? How is the listener supposed to feel? Are you making a track truly for yourself or to meet expectations (real or imagined) of others?
Also, realize that techno is a BIG tent, like rock or D&B. Everything from Berlin industrial to tribal to microtech and everything in between. There is room for all.
If you are personally tired of four-on-the-floor, get inspired by all the artists that have broken free of that constraint. If you’re tired of the 909 hihat (as I am) then don’t use it. Define the parameters of the techno you want to make for yourself and see where that takes you.
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There are no boring nor are there interesting time signatures. It’s the rhythm that matters. 4/4 != kicks on each quarter.
I like this Bruce Lee quote:
“I personally do not believe in the word style. Why? Because, unless there are human beings with three arms and four legs, unless we have another group of human beings that are structually different from us, there can be no different style”
…it isn’t really applicable here, but I like it.
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Adhering to the rules of a genre will make you generic.
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FWIW…I do adhere to a certain BPM range and the 4/4 time signature because I want what I make to be accessible to DJs and be something people want to dance to. Other than that I find/manipulate samples, make sounds, create beats etc that inspire me at the moment (in this regard I do try to keep come consistency in an EP so the songs make sense together).
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I don’t think that’s true at all. It’s like a set of limitations and then it’s up to your creativity to push those limitations in new and interesting ways to create something unique.
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That’s why we alle need 
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Not everyone has to be autechre.
I don’t particularly like techno, never really listened to that much of it, but I like a few techno artists.
Yet most of the music I make is very much 4/4 techno. I don’t know how boring it sounds, don’t really care, I’m having too much of a laugh making it. If you enjoy making music, it will show in the music you make. Obviously there will be some suffering for your art from time to time, but I don’t tend to judge my tracks by what tempo they are or what genre they’re supposed to be, I judge them by whether or not they’re shit.
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It is applicable here - I take it back!
Genres, much like racial constructs, are truly only important to commerce.
The movie Empire Records made the joke that once you decide what your band name is then you’ll know what kind of band you’re in. I think there’s some truth to that idea because we often go about things in a backwards way by thinking too much about genre.
We should be thinking instead of how we can shape the meaning of our tools rather than letting their traditional use dictate what we are.
Genre should be ignored like an annoying aunt.
I’d be interested in hearing what your criteria are here. Especially as someone (you, not me) that makes techno (mainly) but doesn’t particularly care for much of it or its conventions. Also, with the limited time factor that you have. Is something shit because it sounds like something else you’ve heard? Or is it good because it’s similar to other things but has a groove or a cool sound or something else? You get what I mean. How do you judge what’s good and what’s not? Genuinely interested in your process here.
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