Hey! I actually just played a game with you - I'm an avid ARAM-only player myself. I was the Gnar when you went AD Lulu (as our team lacked any real AD - thank you for doing this by the way!). And thank you for posting this, hopefully it's able to grab some attention and be able to make a more enjoyable experience for everyone!
I'm not sure what exactly the ARAM changes were meant for honestly. The new AD and Armor on Super Minions combined with the bonus Movement Speed they grant all enemy champions tends to make it a far more snowbally (heh) experience. The removal of Relic Shield, Ancient Coin, and Spellthief's Edge I feel helped push this along even further, where champions like Nasus who could abuse Relic Shield and attempt to go a stacking build to be relevant faster is now pushed harder into the AP or full tank role, making it far less diverse.
I feel that before these changes there was a much more healthy balance of "pick-up roles" and less of the "You got Ziggs? Sweet you auto-win once you grab the inhibitor." It's definitely frustrating trying to keep team morale up and even harder with Super Minions rushing into the base at such a rapid rate. It's almost as if we absolutely have to have a Sivir, Syndra (throwing them into the Nexus), or someone similar just to keep the minions from automatically winning the game at that point. While I don't mind the minions spawning sooner as well as Health Relics and free minion gold (ayy I can play Janna and get free gold!), I don't exactly enjoy that any champion that relies on SOME form of items feels absolutely useless now, as there will likely never be a time where late game is even remotely reached.
Having a killer teamfighting comp for late game seems far less appealing now. Playing Orianna, Kog'Maw, Vladimir, etc. seems rough if the enemy team has any remote form of poke, as they will just kill us under tower at that point. I've been fortunate enough to play Xayah 2-3 times so far, and nearly every time I have faced the likes of Ziggs, Syndra, Sona, or other "I guaranteed win against you" sort of champions. It sort of ruins the fun, as even the best orbwalking and positioning is quickly displaced by the classic "I'm walking up and throwing all my abilities, good luck" tactic.
I definitely feel there are "ARAM smurfs" as well, as the number of games where I run into Ziggs, Lux, Varus, Zyra, Ezreal, Sona, etc. seems a bit atrocious. I personally don't even own them on this account as I find them very un-fun in ARAM and I find it tends to ruin the experience for both parties. Sure I can sit back and press E on Lux until great victory or roll my face along the keyboard as Sona, but it's not very rewarding and feels that RNGesus blessed us with a free win rather than actually having a fun team fighting map. I don't have any numbers for the ultra-poke heavy ARAM smurf accounts either, however it's a bit awkward seeing them nearly every game and without having a similar setup on your team it almost forces you to surrender the first turret - inevitably forcing all the Health Relics to be surrendered as well as giving the enemy team a significant amount of breathing room to advance forward. The amount of dodges compounds this problem as well - especially the 0-1 second dodgers.
I'd love to actually have some responses from other ARAM players (and hopefully Riot) and perhaps work together to develop a healthier system, as currently it doesn't feel very rewarding to play. I'm almost always expecting the RNG giving one team a clear advantage, however having 1 completed item against a team with 4 isn't even fun at that point. The Super Minions are quite ridiculous, and if far behind will easily solo a melee non-tank (or an ADC that steps too close). It feels as if Syndra is the best champion to deal with them now being able to throw them into the Nexus, which just feels wrong as it's sacrificing much-needed Gold at that point in the game and further making that feeling of a guaranteed loss only more reassuring. I thoroughly enjoy games where it's a slug-fest and both teams feel they accomplish something; I'd much prefer to have 10 Braums whacking at each other in the middle of the map than the current state. It doesn't feel very healthy for either team, as Tanks never get to the point of being relevant (unless supplemented by free assists from other poke champions) and any non-Tank without a safe form of poke is rendered nearly useless - aside from the exceptions of Master Yi and similar champions that can 1v5 in the right situation.
Again, thanks for posting this and hopefully it draws the attention of a few eyes that can work towards making a positive experience for everyone. I know I wouldn't have continued playing League without ARAM's being around either, and I'm sure there are many others in the same boat. We're in the top 1% of ARAM players from MMR (although I don't really care about MMR, only using it for context) and I feel that our opinions are based around experience (as well as a TON of ARAM games) and not a "NERF LEE SIN PLS" sort of tone, so I hope that people will understand that and be able to provide some constructive thoughts here!
and both teams get a more balanced team. Nothing worst then when one team gets lux, ziggs, cait, Raka, and Amumu and your team consist of a bunch of garbage melee's that get poked out under tower. That makes the games go longer because the one team is afraid to leave tower, and the other cant kill it super fast. More fights, more gold, faster games.