honestly this might just be my nostalgia speaking but I really dislike the new additions. I mean don't get me wrong I love some changes, but it doesn't feel like minecraft anymore you know? I find myself steering clear of glazed terracotta, kelp blocks, mansions, shulkers, purpur, and other things I never bothered to get the hang of.
Although I do sometimes absolutely love the odd addition here or there (dolphins! elytras! bone blocks! treasure maps and more!) I usually don't. all the fancy new stuff feels like a mod that I didn't want added in. I often find myself wishing for an alternate version of minecraft updated similar to the current, but without all the new flashy stuff. just bug fixes, improvements on pre-existing features, and the occasional "vanilla"-feeling addition.
with my personal saves I tend to stick around 1.8 to 1.11.2, sometimes reaching out into 1.12. but even those changes kind of overwhelmed me. minecraft was always a "safe" game for me, I could set it down for a few months then pick it up again without any anxiety. but now I feel kind of left behind because of all the new stuff being shoved in.
I'm not really claiming my opinion is correct at all, but just food for thought I guess.
