Yes, of course Minecraft is held to a higher standard than modders. They have Microsoft money and professional programmers, and they've been coding this game for the past one and a half decades which is an amazing length of time.

Look, I've been playing long enough to remember when dogs showed up. When jungles were added just a year after Beta concluded, we were all in awe. New huge trees with different wood! Vines all over everything! Melons! Sunsets! Three new mobs! There was tons of new content, mechanics, and features to explore. And they kept releasing new biomes, mechanics, and features, creating what we all recognize as Minecraft today.

However, at some point during their acquisition, this really slowed down. Instead of getting whole new biomes and mechanics, they started teasing us with a handful of features modders had been doing for years. We already had Ender Chests, and they could be shared across the server with a three-digit code, and they could store liquids or be made into backpacks. We already had rabbits, and squirrels, and songbirds in the Twilight Forest. We already had integrated redstone and kids were learning how to make complex circuits with it. Teasing us with three mobs we might see one of in a year or two is a real letdown.

My point is, Mojang has more resources than they've ever had, more subscribers than any other game ever, and yet they act like they're God's gift to gamers when they actually perform more poorly than they did 12 years ago. As a player from the very beginning, I know better, and I find this behavior pedantic and insulting. The only reason I still play at all is because college students are still making featureful content over spring break that makes it a whole new adventure again.

Yes, the game did slow down after the acquisition. And it does seem like recently they’ve been focusing on adding new building blocks instead of game mechanics. I’d say from my perspective that some mods are a little too feature rich? IDK I just kind of like Minecrafts minimalist style. There’s no quest, there’s no unlocking regions after fighting a boss. You make your own quest and go wherever you want. Maybe its because I’m a relatively new player (3 years). The game still feels kind of new to me.

I understand that many of the features added seem unoriginal when they’ve been in the modding scene for years but I think thats just a product of how long Minecraft has been around. Not to mention a product of its popularity. People see the infinite possibilities and it gets their gears turning. Would you rather those features not be in the base game?

I do sympathize with the notion that Minecraft has gone in a different direction from what many of its oldest and most dedicated fans would have liked. And thats fine, there’s modded for that.

I guess what I’m saying is as someone who didn’t grow up with the game I can’t really get behind the “Minecraft was better before Microsoft”. But I don’t think that makes their point wrong, I just don’t think it matters as much to me. Call me a sheep, call me a Mojang Apologist, I’m fine with that. I’m sure in 10 years I’ll be in the same boat as you, if the game lasts that long.