Some biomes should be an exception to the height-dependant biome rule.

Take a look at this screenshot of a badlands biome in 1.18 onwards:

https://preview.redd.it/80p7c62dk5ca1.png?width=2294&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=f71f34df3a661c50776335fe4ee672c38940eae8

It's just the same lumpy hills and plains found in every biome, except made of terracotta. Now look at this screenshot of a badlands biome in 1.7 through 1.17.1:

https://preview.redd.it/u2gx3s5yl5ca1.png?width=1708&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=f76a96982b28b7356faa6b70147fd8db18b606ee

It has that wonderful "wild west" feel which gives it ✨magic✨. The new badlands biome does not have that same magic. It is dull.

The exact problem I have identified is that the new terrain generation rules introduced in 1.18, which were meant to improve the way mountains looked, were applied to all biomes. Why? I do not know. It was completely unnecessary, as only the mountains needed a makeover. The other biomes suffered as a result.

What I really want is the 1.7 through 1.17.1 terrain generation to come back as an option when making a world, and it would still have the new features of 1.18 onwards. The new mountain biomes and terrain generation from 1.18 would only replace the old mountains. Mangrove swamps could be a new sub-biome of swamps or they could replace half of swamps. See? Problem solved. We don't need to make arbitrary changes to the game, and yet we can still fix the problems that the game had before.

The lesson of this post is: Don't fix what ain't broke.