I finally realized what the weird-ass matchmaking of the current season reminds me off

Season 1/2 shortly after I started with the game.

I mean sure the game is ten billion times stompier than then, and that might make it even worse, but there was one deciding difference from the early seasons to let's say 3-5. Fewer players. Like, LoL grew a TON since the end of season 2, and now it seems we are so in the decline that it affects matchmaking: back then the system had a choice to make: let people wait or put together a game that's "eh, good enough" from a balance standpoint. It does not become really noticeable when you are on bronze/silver level as this is where all the people sit, but once you leave that field it gets really wonky at times. The system did not have much issues as we had a massive number of players, but once that number goes down, changes become noticeable.

And to be fair the game itself is on a point where I can totally understand people internally quitting. I'm just in it half-assed, barely caring about rank or rewards, doing all the evil things, such as first timing champions in ranked, afking games when my teammates seem to suck, and so on and so on. It's almost as if I just wait until Riot bans me so I can move on with my life after having suck so much of my lifetime into their game that I am now kept here even if every single ounce of fun is already gone.

I wouldn't be surprised if the game was in an even worse state than anyone even expected, there must be a reason Riot is not publishing player numbers for years now. But yeah, if you ever wonder why your games have been so absurdly unbalanced all season, this is pretty much it.