Why people stick to 1.12 Minecraft

So, many people in this community don't understand why people want to stick to the 1.12 version of Minecraft instead of updating to newer versions.

It's something that I've seen quite a lot in the community, infact. It seems like there's only two types of people here, those who stick to 1.12, and those who are completely bewildered that anyone would want to do that. Obviously this is an exaggeration, there's likely people here who don't fall into either category, but the vocal majority that I have seen fall into those two categories.

I've even seen some people be pretty rude to 1.12 players.

So, I wanted to try to explain what might drive the 1.12 players to stick to their version, and to hopefully answer the many times that I've seen people questioning the 1.12 players on their decision.

1. Mod Support.
1.12 is one of the most heavily populated versions of Minecraft in terms of mods. I can think of several mods that haven't updated past 1.12. If your favorite mod is a 1.12 exclusive, are you just going to completely ditch that mod and move to the newer versions of Minecraft? For many people, the answer to that is likely no. They want to keep using their favorite mod, so they stick to 1.12.

2. Personal preference.
People need to understand that Minecraft's updates aren't like regular patch updates for most video games, where it just fixes bugs and optimises things. (Ironically though, some people, such as speedrunners, may want to avoid bug fix patches as well for games) Minecraft's updates are major additions to the game. Or, as of recently, major overhauls.

The first overhaul that comes to mind is 1.9, the combat update. I remember a lot of outcry about this update. But, at the end of the day, combat is just combat. Unless you're a big member of the PVP community, combat probably isn't going to affect you that much in Minecraft. You walk up to a mob and click the mouse button a few times, that's about it.

The combat update is something that, to be blunt, most people can get over. There's also some people who like the combat update, and enjoy the extra little bit of depth to the combat that it brings. In the grand scheme of things, it's a small overhaul.

Post 1.12, that changes. 1.13 overhauled oceans. 1.14 overhauled villages, and 1.16 overhauled the nether. And these are not small overhauls like the combat update could be classified as, this isn't something that most people don't really think about like combat is. (No offense to PVP fans intended.) These are major overhauls to aspects of the game that, when you encounter them, you really experience them.

The experience of oceans, villages, and The Nether was drastically changed in these updates. Villages and The Nether especially are very popular and intimate things in Minecraft, they've always been. Everyone knows those two. When you think of Minecraft, Villages and The Nether probably come to mind pretty quickly. They're very different from the usual experience of the game, which is mining and building.

When you majorly overhaul something that the community is very intimately acquainted with, it's a major change. Obviously. And not everyone is going to like that change.

Think of Paper Mario. There's an obvious outcry over the change between Thousand Year Door and Sticker Star. Not everyone is going to approve of change. And it's not just "hurrdurr change bad" either, there's genuine reasoning behind disliking major changes to something that you know.

Think back to the PVP Community and the outcry over 1.9. Something that they know and love has been turned on it's head. Obviously not everyone's going to like that.

It's the same situation with Post 1.12 Minecraft. It shifted away from content updates and started focusing on overhauls, so it's a ton of 1.9s. But this time, it isn't a change that mostly affects a specific community. It affects pretty much everyone.

Most people for the better, but some not.

Personally? I'm with the 1.12 crowd. However, I love the changes in 1.13. The problem there is that the update is unstable, and there's a lack of mod support for it.

I, and many others, just prefer the old villages, and the old nether.

And it isn't people being stubborn or lazy either. There are reasons that people stick to 1.12. It's a matter of opinion. You could argue with some people that "Why aren't you updating? All you're missing is bug fixes! It objectively makes the game better!" you can't do that with Minecraft's overhauls. Whether these overhauls improve the experience of the game is a matter of OPINION, and it honestly makes me mad to see people treating the 1.12 crowd like they're idiots for having an opinion, or wanting to stick with their favorite mods.

If everyone could just be accepting of the fact that people have opinions, the world, and this community, would be a much better place for everyone, not just 1.12 players.

And yes, not all 1.12 players are perfect. I'm not saying go spam mod pages begging people to backport their mods to 1.12. That's stupid.

What I am saying is that whether people are staying behind in 1.12 for mod support, or out of personal preference, please respect their opinion. Thanks.