The longer this goes on, the more it feels like it's the fact expensive recipes are on by default rather than gregtech itself. It takes less than a minute to pull up the config file and turn off the changes while still preserving the nifty machines and tools that were added.
As for the shift on the drill though, of course wood > stone > iron > diamond obsoletes the one before it. That isn't at issue at all. It is the fact the mining drill obsoletes 2 entire tools. Chainsaw you could argue 3 via sword, axe, shears.
For those of us that like to wander until we're tapped on inventory space, that single extra slot savings can be meaningful. The time saved per block, no tool switching and lack of breaking concerns is also a massive improvement. Consider what it would cost in tools to dig out a full chunk. Then consider in turn the time differences. It is quite a gap.
I am quite confused why it is such a big deal however, as nobody forces any FTB user to play with any particular gameplay-related mod. We have full capacity to turn each on or off individually at our discretion and even add new stuff with ease. Personally, I drifted into Magic World and added in IC2, GT and others (took a bit of config toying, however!
). The FTB launcher gives us a lot of freedom to find our personal taste but can only have one default setting. Griping about it is of course inefficient use of effort. Already made a jackhammer myself.
As for F2P games...some are like that yes, but it is trending away from it because players like no pay to win mechanics. At least from what I have observed. There will always be some that can't conceive not doing it that way of course, along with every possible shade of gray between.
