The intent of this post is discussion, I don't mean to attack anyone or use this as a one-sided rant for how the game should be. If you agree, disagree or half-agree, please state why in the comments

Mojang doesn't develop large updates or deeply change the game, this is fully intentional and something they have stated:

"When you think about the game years from now, let’s say years and years down the road, do you still see Minecraft and not “Minecraft 2?"

Yes, I believe so, but that’s also one of my challenges. If you compare the core vanilla game to what you can do with mods, it looks like we are really holding back. That’s actually the case. And the reason for that is when we add things to Minecraft, we’re trying to partly go slowly so that people can adjust to the changes, but we’re also trying to remember that we need to grow slowly in all directions. So some people like Creative mode, some people like exploring, some people like fighting, and some people like Redstone."

Supposedly this is so players have time to adjust, but in my view, it only dulls the game. It limits the potential of Minecraft. I'll use 1.9 as an example but the idea is still present in other updates.

1.9 took quite a while to develop. Was it worth it? It did actually change a characteristic of the game, so much it divided the community. However, I think there was too little drive behind it, and the cause might be in how snapshots are utilized.

Snapshots are used as previews instead of testing grounds. This limits community participation and proper expansion of the game. The combat system was not changed, scrapped, and bettered. The timer, the controversial change, suddenly appeared in a snapshot and went through little change. This is not to say that it was a bad change, the point is that community participation and more boldness with changes in snapshots would've made it better, and more accepted by the community.

As a result of this philosophy, Mojang adds little content in their updates, and so where mob variations like husks or strays would've been side content, they're the main content instead. Areas of the game like the Nether and the underground are rather empty. The former lacks any decent challenge aside from the minority of Nether fortresses. The latter hasn't been properly explored by Mojang for years, lacking things such as biomes and unique mobs.

This could be bettered by bolder changes, and more drive behind them. This is, in my view, what snapshots should be for. They are a safe place for ever changing content, constantly being improved by discussion and feedback, and thus resulting in a better game and a better relation between the developers and the community.

In a comment, Jeb said:

"The situation is a little bit tricky, yes 🙂 I don't want to make excuses, but there really isn't a way for us to "win". We aim to continually add updates to the game, but we are criticised for not adding enough new game mechanics. When we do change game mechanics, it becomes the most criticised update of them all (1.9). When we add "too few" new features, the update is "lackluster", and when we add "too many", the update is referred to as a "mod" in a degratory tone. I think it's worth remembering that we are in a sense competing with modders. We have an expression (even if a bit hyperbole) that every new vanilla feature kills a would-be community mod."

Again, this seems to be a lack of drive. No one ever called Terraria's updates a "mod". Perhaps it's a bad example since Terraria's mods aren't as notable as Minecraft's, but "mod" in this context usually means "convoluted". With more content and more firmness in changes comes more acceptance. Acceptance through passivity is not a good method.

But, this is my personal view.

What do you think?