Firstly, thanks for the update, team. I'm certainly a critic of the time frames between releases (and have frequently stated I'd further support the team with paid DLC if it were an option to help speed up release + future TFP games), but always appreciate the effort put in. Update is solid and moving in the right direction.
I don't really read the forums but went back a couple of pages to get a sense of what others are talking about, and have a couple of thoughts:
I think some people are taking this "play however you want" thing way too literally. Sure, you can spend more of your time doing x, but you also need to do y if you want a, b, or c.
Be careful not to romanticise the A16 "learn by doing" too much. I can recall going AFK in my bedrock base to craft hundreds of things just to advance a skill, and it definitely forced choices on you to skill up in other areas. None of the options are perfect, and TFP most certainly won't please everyone no matter what they do.
Something that I think might be missing in this update (but apologies if it's just me) is a description of what the skulls mean? Like, there's red and other tones but also 1 or more skulls. I had a quick look through the tips tab and couldn't see it. Maybe like a general description of what to expect? It kind of intuitive, but I'm just inferring from like... life experience?
Also, I realise this isn't the place for desired features, but just made my way to trader Jen and those hydroponic gardens look great! If they're already in game - cool! If not ... well...
Cheers