I don't think the shadows and shaders update was such a good idea. The devs sold it to us under the idea that it would lead to more updates that would do great things with the game that couldn't be done otherwise. But after that update, there were no more major updates. It basically just made the game prettier, with no other major things being added afterwards. Maps weren't SO important to begin with, but we basically gave them up for no reason. I don't really care if the game is pretty or not.
The shadows and shaders update was basically just a move to make the game look less dated and more new and hip to new buyers on Steam, specifically so Blockland would sell better on Steam and for no other reason. It didn't actually innovate the game at all as promised, it just made it easier to sell.