Woah its been (almost) 4 years already.
Damn it's hard to believe almost half of my blockland experience has been with the shader update. Dude thats a long time.
I feel like I have more memories pre v21 though I guess that's just my brain playing tricks on me.
<3 this game :)
edit: The reason terrain and interiors were great is because they provided an easy way for people to make maps. True, they may have been a lazy solution in some cases, but a lot of people are understandibly not willing to take the time and effort to create massive maps by brick. It's a lot of work.
Terrain also provided a large variation of steepness which allowed for smoother driving.