Great video by @TheMisterEpic1 which opens a discussion about whether Minecraft has gotten easier or not. Lots of interesting points. The loot being too good in structures is actually something we've had conversations about internally.

I agree that Minecraft has gotten easier early game, but harder late game. The thing that I think people underestimate is that the game has become less challenging as a result of experience and an evolving "meta". Distribution of ores such as diamond have not really changed, but:

People get diamond earlier than they ever have in the past. That is because the meta has evolved so people know how to get these resources extremely quickly.

Beds are also an interesting topic. For me, I think it would be interesting if people were encouraged to not sleep...

Unfortunately, Phantoms currently discourage people from staying awake for long periods. It's definitely something we might have to look into eventually. In my eyes, getting better rewards for daring to not sleep seems like an interesting direction.

In saying all of this, Minecraft is designed by many people, and everyone within the team has different opinions. These are my thoughts, but there is no definitive answer to Minecraft design. So always keep that in mind when I reflect on critique in Minecraft!