Riot's Methods of Balance - Currently a worrying trend

Let me start by saying that I love this game. It's practically been the only game I play for several years. It's the only game I'm really concerned about getting good at and staying good at. I think that Riot used to balance and change things in a good productive way. There were still some changes I didn't really agree with, but overall I'd say Riot has done a good job keeping the game in a healthy and competitive state. This past year though, I'm not so convinced. The way that Riot has gone about changing their game has changed completely. And I feel that this method is only detrimental to the competitive scene, and the players ability to enjoy the game. Here's how Riot, in my view, has gone about changing the game over the past year in comparison with other seasons.

Riot, for the first 4-5 seasons, was never about hard nerfing things. They nerfed things that were broken, and they buffed things that weren't. If something was too over powered, then they would tone it down a bit. If they felt they toned it down too much, then they would normally try to give a compensation buff. This may not have been the case all the time, but I feel that this is a fair generalization. And I feel that this is a good way to go about changing a game. Continuing to balance champions without completely changing how everyone/thing works. Onto how I think this game shouldn't (and I should also add IS NOT) be changed.

Completely nerfing things isn't health either. I mean that nerfing things without buffing other things isn't a good way to go about changing a game. Over time we would get to the point where everything was super weak, and it'd be like Dota 2 where minions are stronger than champions (like literally higher base attack damage and health) for a good portion of the game. I don't think this is what Riot is doing.

Riot has transitioned from a nerf/buff trend to a rework/nerf trend. Right now Riot in large seems to be nerfing things, and then reworking things later. Rather than trying to find a point of equilibrium, where most champions are viable at once, Riot is taking on a more of a roller coaster. They will rework champions and make them really strong, or they will release a new and really strong champion. These champions become what the meta revolves around, until Riot nerfs them over several patches. After enough nerfs these champions stop being good and are not rebuffed. Instead, another rework comes out. Let's look at who has been really good top lane this season. Note that I don't remember the exact order. We had Quinn, Graves, Darius, Fiora, and Poppy. Note that these are all reworked champions. Let's also look at jungle. The three best/most popular right now are Nidalee Kindred and Graves. They have been some of the strongest throughout the season. Nidalee and Graves are again both reworks, and Kindred was a new release.

While I respect reworks on occasion, I don't think it's very healthy for reworks to become the primary method of balancing the game. I used to see a much larger range in the champions Riot buffed throughout patches. Sure there are still some small buffs here and there, but now it's like they just rework everything. I'm not saying that Riot needs to go back and press delete on the mage update. I know that this is something that has already been announced and so it's not like you guys can just make it go away. However, I strongly feel that the trend needs to stop here. I can respect reworking a champion if they are significantly under played competitively (Absolute 0 competitive play across Korea, China, North America, Europe) and under played in solo queue. Again, I love this game too. I know you Riot workers always mean well. I care about the game too. That's the reason why I took the time to write out this post.

There's a lot more I would like to say, but I don't know on what other grounds I might be able to have an intelligent conversation with a Rioter. I made another post a week or two ago, which a Riot worker replied to. I actually replied to his claim/argument with convincing evidence that I took a decent amount of time to put together and he never responded back. This made me sad, because I still feel like the time I'm putting into these posts isn't entirely paying off.

CLOSING NOTE: Anyways, thank you for reading. Any reply to this post from a Rioter would be much appreciated! And any information on how I may have a conversation such as this on perhaps a better grounds than a forum post would also be much appreciated!