But in all seriousness 1.12 is good since it is late/established enough to have a large server/modding community along content which benefits the game like combat features, the ability to have tons of command tools, and redstone contraptions. It also has some nice large servers.
1.13 removes the testfors which I use. Also a small thing is I'm a traditionalist who dislike the new water textures.
I mean personally I think 1.13 is fine but there aren't may good mods that are 1.13 AND can be used together.
I dislike the 1.14 ai pillager raids.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/f4ftyk/does_anyone_else_hate_pillagers/There is a whole reddit page dedicated to the various issues.
1.15 adds bees. The mechanic feels kinda add on and tacky. There is another reddit with some people commenting on various issues.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/cvohhk/i_hate_the_proposed_bee_and_i_think_its_terrible/1.16 adds better nether which I like because the nether before then was pretty dull. However there are already plenty of 1.12 mods that change the nether or add other dimensions.
I've not tried 1.17 yet but if I do then I can give my review here.
Fundamentally the big reason is servers. I just already have established a home in some 1.12 servers.
