Quite a lot of mods have migrated to newer versions of Minecraft like 1.16.5 and 1.18.2. Some mods keep updating pass those versions to follow Minecraft updates.
However, a lot of cooler mods are still stuck in 1.12.2 or 1.7. Also, some players don't like the new tech mods (like Create) and new mod launchers (like Fabric)
I now always play new Minecraft versions if possible, and after trying out 30+ modpacks across 2 years, I ended up making my own that I can enjoy.
The cult of the new is pretty strong in modded Minecraft. To be honest, I haven't done much modded stuff in awhile, but 1.16.5 is a solid choice or at least was back when I last put a pack together.
Create is the big new mod that has everyone buzzing. In some ways it's a reaction to the RF-ification and magic blocks/multiblocks that dominated the 1.12 era. Everything is very nice and modular, and it reminds me of Rotarycraft in that respect, though they are very different mods.
Dang it, now I want to play some Rotarycraft. Reika has enough 1.7.10 mods that you can essentially put together your own pack of just them, but I digress.
I feel that most people play modpacks nowadays, but maybe I'm biased as a packdev. I've seen some good progression packs come out, if that's your thing. I'm biased towards my pack, Brass, of course, but Create: Above and Beyond is the official Create modpack with loads of custom content. I never got around to playing it, but it looks neat.
There are surprisingly many mods already for 1.19 but there are also a lot which are still for older versions like 1.18, 1.16 or even 1.12. I'd recommend having a look at some packs with create. I think they are mostly for the newer versions. As for making a pack yourself, I do that a lot but there are also lots of good prebuilt ones.
So based on what you and @NorthWestWind@lemmy.world are saying, perhaps my best bet would be 1.18 or 1.16 for modded?
I've seen some things with Create, mostly from Etho. It looks like a cool industrial mod, albeit a lot different in spirit from (say) RP2 or Thermal Expansion.
For me it's 1.15. I really did not care for the nether update, but I think this is an unpopular opinion. Unfortunately doing modding on this specific version is not great. 1.12.2 obviously has the best modding support, but I really liked the 1.13 aquatic update.
I always play 1.12 because I dont want to play a pack where I cant build space station bases. But I'll play one of the 1.18 packs if I'm just looking for a lite pack (better terrain gen)
For me it’s 1.15. I really did not care for the nether update, but I think this is an unpopular opinion. Unfortunately doing modding on this specific version is not great. 1.12.2 obviously has the best modding support, but I really liked the 1.13 aquatic update.