Yeah it definitely won't be anything like unlimited warps like it used to be. I think being able to warp or maybe just tp to someone might make things a bit more communal because at the moment I've been building stuff quite a distance from everyone else so it'd be nice to get around a bit more, without it taking the piss.
Since 1.7 is apparently a long way off, you should sneak around some of the existing beaches and place clay blocks, so people that want that can go hunting for it.