Why it Feels Like the Game is Getting Worse

It's because with each patch they've been doing less and less balance changes, and more gameplay updates.

They might wait 2-3 patches before buffing or nerfing someone, while they'll do 2-3 gameplay updates per patch now. We used to get like 10 champions buffed or nerfed per patch, now its maybe 3-5, and they wait a long time to put them out too.

I get they want to make sure they need the buff/nerf and that it's actually the champion's kit causing the problem, and that now in addition they want to make sure a gameplay update wouldn't be better. But waiting upwards of 3 patches(1.5 months) as the problem champion goes untouched really makes the game feel bad. When they do a buff/nerf they usually make it too light for fear of overdoing it too.

Some examples I can give of this recently are Fiora, Zac, Malzahar, and Kennen. Fiora has been overpowered for a few patches now, they still haven't even come up with anything beyond saying that they might nerf her, but aren't sure still. Zac keeps getting tiny nerfs but is still overpowered and many argue overloaded. Malzahar although back in a good spot now, was "Olaf'ed" because of his support case being irritating and was ignored for many patches before they actually tried to fix him. AD Kennen has been a problem for numerous patches and only recently have they tried to do anything about it.

A lot of champions are also being ignored right now. Xin Zhao, Quinn, and Poppy are all champions that are usually fairly popular, all barely played in recent patches, where are their buffs? Nautilus' play rate took a nose-dive recently, does he need buffs after the tank update? Volibear is still in a bad place does he need more buffs?

My point is it seems that while Riot is trying to prevent the amount of failed buffs, nerfs, and reworks; they've also forgotten to do substantial patches as well. Instead of touching champions it feels like they mess with the items, which fixes some but hurts others even more. Instead of making sure the item changes were the direction they wanted so they can go right into buffing/nerfing champions they fiddle around with the item numbers until they have to move onto something else big, forgetting about touching the champs.

It just feels they aren't touching champions anymore unless it's a gameplay update leading to about a third of champions being unplayable, a third being "non-meta"(or in an okay spot but still noticeably weaker), and a third being "meta"(not necessarily actually meta, but picks your team wouldn't bat an eye at). Then there's also the 100% pick/ban champions as well, which is seemingly the only group being looked at for nerfs. As for the unplayables, they're only looked at for gameplay updates and left unplayable until then because for some reason they can't have a buff in the mean-time. The "meta" group only gets looked at if there's a large outcry from the community, and even then it can be patches before they get to it.

Tldr: Riot seems to have stopped buffing champs and instead wait to do a gameplay update on them. Strong champions don't get nerfs unless they're 100% pick/ban. The amount of champions that aren't in a good spot increases with each patch as this continues.