Honestly even if you don’t like the specific mechanics of Vintage Story I think you have to appreciate it for being the only real alternative to Minecraft (besides the still pretty alpha stage project Minetest and Valoren which seems to be trying to recreate a different game). Which… stop for a second and think about it as gargantuanly lovecraftian-eldritch-god-sized of a phenomena that Minecraft is… there aren’t any other moderately successful alternatives that really try to innovate or even copy Minecraft that have stood the test of time and attracted consistent playerbases besides Vintage Story. That is awful for the health of the genre that Minecraft pioneered and popularized! As a video game fan it is worth appreciating Vintage Story JUST on that basis as there is so much incredible potential in the ideas Minecraft clumsily fumbles at even if you hate Minecraft (which honestly has terrible core game mechanics, especially combat, see Valheim for an example of how to do pretty much everything Minecraft does better minus the whole blocks thing).

Vintage Story provides an alternative place that Minecraft modpacks/total conversions (like what Vintage Story was originally) can find a platform outside the control of an awful multibillion dollar company. It is only a matter of time before someone makes a modpack for Vintage Story that you will like even if you don’t like vanilla Vintage Story. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Minecraft, even though there are countless mods for Minecraft there is no way in hell that Microsoft currently or in the future will ever truly value the role of artists and modders in evolving Minecraft. Long term as far as Microsoft is concerned the Bedrock edition and merchandising the aesthetic of Minecraft is all that is really worth investing in no matter what their PR says. It means decisions about the structure of Minecraft won’t truly ever include a consideration of how it will impact modders who want to apply their own creative spark and vision to Minecraft.

It is similar to how even if you don’t like the specific game mechanics of 7 Days To Die (it certainly at times has unfocused design goals) you have to respect it for being a great platform for modpacks and total conversions run by a company that isn’t mono-maniacally focused on being a shitty late stage capitalist nightmare machine.