So gameplay the perpetually burning tire-fire is still complaining about the state of the game. That said, when thinking it over, I think they're complaining about the wrong aspects and why certain things are snowballing/snowbally. I don't believe just doing a mass damage nerf or resistance buff across the board will fix it either, because it completely misses an important part: The lack of comeback/mid-tier items.

One of the biggest problems when you lose a kill is that your lane opponent is coming back to lane with a better item than you are in almost every circumstance. Nowhere does this tend to be more apparent than ADCs: In equal farm save for a kill, the ADC that's 1/0/0 gets to come back to lane with a BF sword. ADC who is 0/1/0 might just be coming back with a pickax or maybe another dorans item. The disparity between builds in this case is enormous, the ADC with a kill getting almost double the AD compared to the one who didn't get it. Depending on the match up, you could be even more screwed as well.

This is why I think nerfing damage won't truly fix the problem: Yes, it might make team fights last longer, but it's not going to fix the feeling that someone gets a kill and comes to lane with a massive, numeric advantage over you. Instead, we need to look at items and see what we can do there.

The general idea of mid-tier items is something a little more powerful than Seeker's Armguard or Phage but doesn't build into something or is something you sell later like doran's. I don't have stats, statistics or ideas to back up what this item would be for each class because it's such a wild and varied idea that has to fit so many characters. That said, let me explain why I think it'd be good:

1.) A Way to Come Back

In buying a mid-tier item, you're telling the enemy that you're on the backfoot. However, because of this, you can take them in an even fight. It allows you to lane against someone and compete with them in all-ins even though they're ahead of you. Which leads to the next point:

2.) Advantage softening, not erasing.

The counterpoint to the first point would be "Oh wow so my advantage means nothing". This isn't true. The enemy can't build a major item/component of something they'll need in the late game. You, however, are sporting an item that will be outscaled soon. You're banking on your skills to come back and catch-up to them in a fair fight rather than just buying an item that will beat them. Likewise, the enemy still has to work but they know that they have an advantage in the later game because they didn't have to make a detour.

3.) Mid-tier items can be powerful, flexible items for many situations.

Stopwatch is a great example of a mid-tier item. A one-time use that gives a zhonya's effect but is a pricy investment for one use. It's powerful but not overbearing. It can be the difference between trading kills and getting back into the game. Imagine more items with similar effects: Items that have meh-to-decent stats but powerful actives which would make late game items absolutely broken. These tools reward players who play smart on the retreating side, not punish people who got ahead.

4.) With proper balance, it's a long term solution to issues of game health.

Nerfing or buffing things will completely alter the game, which could lead to length issues down the road. This was apparent in Seasons 4/5, when the early game had zero bearing because it was so easy to just turtle up and wait for the 60 minute mark when one death meant baron and two towers. Mid-tier items, however, allow for breathing room for changes. If things are too snowbally with mid-tier items, then you can tweak the game. If games go on too long, you can pull the levers on mid-items and make comebacks harder.

Personally, I don't think the game is in as dire a state that everyone else does. However, I can understand people being frustrated with no way to come back. It was a problem that many people had in previous seasons when you had little-to-no comeback mechanisms if the better player got ahead. I think that mid-tier items can create a buffer that allows Riot more tools/levers to judge game health as well as having another tool in the kit to help balance should games become too long or in the event that we revert to Season 4/5 when the early game had zero bearing because of how easy it was to come back.