I always wanted to make a forever world, but I found it difficult and didn't really know why. I figured my issue was I would rush through the progression and then have choice paralysis once I had the best gear in the game. So over the past few weeks, I ran an experiment across a few different worlds. Each world was run for 100 days, with the key factor being I forced myself to slow down the progression by only using the following tiers of tools and armor after these day milestones:
Wood Tools: Available Day 0
Stone/Copper Tools: Available Day 15
Iron/Gold Tools: Available Day 30
Diamond Tools: Available Day 45
Enchanting: Available Day 60
Netherite: Available Day 75
The only exceptions for these rules would be happening across a higher tier tool in a loot chest (for example stone axes or hoes in ocean ruins, or finding an iron helmet in a village blacksmith). I just wasn't allowed to make more tools of the higher tier.
All of the worlds I tested this on was on Large Biomes in Hard mode (not hardcore) an running 1.21 (after 26.1 came out I switched to that because I didn't notice the version changed, just had to roll with it). As I went, I took notes in a google doc (because across around 500 days im bound to forget things), and have compiled the important things
World 1: 1223185669538264291
I spawned in a plains biome between 3 villages. I looted them for crops and bread before running north-west, finding the ocean, and crossing it to find a birch forest. I built a mediterranean coastal town over the 100 days, using birch, cobblestone, and oak from a neighboring oak forest until day 45, where I went into the nether to find nether wood for floors and blackstone for my sidewalks. I died a total of 6 times (twice to creepers, once to long fall in a ravine before I had a bucket, once to a blaze in the nether, and once to a lava lake in the nether). Normally, I find that losing my gear in lava is so devastating I up and quit on the spot, but because I forced myself to slow down, I had extra materials to bounce back with instead of just giving up because I did the bare minimum from progression.
World 2: -9116006467989636671
I spawned in a dark forest flanked by a pale garden. I stuck to the dark forest for the most part, and it mostly went the same. During the day, I would harvest from the pale gardens, and at night I would mine since there weren't really structures around my base I could safely loot. I died a total of 8 times (though 5 of them were to creakings because I lost track of time). I ended up doing a bavarian style hamlet since I had so much dark oak to play with.
World 3: -51983889030831552
I spawned in the middle of the ocean on a bamboo jungle island. I quickly took over the island with a bamboo bungalow village (the island was only around 500 blocks long). After that, I took a boat and sailed around, and found a desert to the north-west of my base. I built a small desert outpost and dockyard with the sandstone. I only died once this time, and it was to a drowned with a lucky shot on a trident. I had to rely on loot from shipwrecks around the island to get off the ground, but once that happened the 100 days went pretty smoothly.
World 4: 6318148854019709122
I spawned in the middle of a dense forest and decided to live in a hole until I built a decently large castle out of cobblestone. This was probably the most grueling one, since I spent most of my time gathering materials. I did actually get around to enchanting my gear in this one, but didn't get anything worth writing about.
Conclusion:
I don't think my original hypothesis was correct across this experiment. In hindsight, I think my biggest problem was that while I had the best gear, I only had the best gear and nothing else to show for it. Slowing down the progression forced me to busy myself with actual buildings, which alleviated the "choice paralysis" I thought I was having at the start. Additionally, I had to change how I played because I didn't have the best armor to protect me almost immediately. Before this experiment, I played super riskily because I didn't fear dying and losing my stuff, until it happened and I would simply quit the world. I think this experience will help me properly start a forever world by forcing me to be invested in more than just my gear.
If you've made it this far, what do you think?