I honestly don't think that's the case here, as there are newer progression skips in
1.4.1.2 that didn't exist in 1.3.5. Some of them are reliable, but others aren't guaranteed to work every time & a special seed might need to be developed, to use the rest of them more consistently. That's the thing about a shift in the meta, sometimes you have to relearn the game, as the rules change with it. I'ts not always a bad thing & I feel many of these
newer progression skips are a LOT smarter than just throwing bombs at free ore.
I don't wanna spoil all of the skips/ exploits I've discovered just yet, but here are a few that were in 1.4.0 that most knew of that were fun, but seem to have also been removed.
- Quad-Barrel Shotgun (via Graveyard Biome)
- Starfish/ Lightning Whelk Shell duplication (via hammered platform/ surface)
- Stationary Boss Glitch (multiplayer A.I. exploit)
Many of these exploits or progression skips weren't removed on a whim, the devs wanted to add new items & rebalance the game to replace the old meta. That's why they painstakingly took a look at nearly every item in the entire game & either re-tiered it or rebalanced it in some way. There wouldn't be a point in adding newer progression paths, only to leave gaping holes in what you're trying to add. I assure you, there are a TON of ways to do things similar to the Meteor Set progression skip, but you'll have to discover most of them on your own, or just wait for the community to make them common knowledge.
Progression skips are still in the game, they're just newer one & I'd argue,
in some cases, more powerful than what existed in 1.3.5. Progression skips aren't bad, you just have to earn some of them, as they aren't nearly as
free as they were before, but they're definitely still in the game. I never considered getting lucky while fishing, getting a lucky Dungeons gen or tossing bombs at ore to be "outsmarting the game". These newer skips though, they require a lil' bit more planning & brainpower, or even skill at times.