It's still pre season so people are still figuring out the new strategies needed. Your point on the jungler having more gold than laners, this is the exact opposite now. As a jungler, I've been doing a lot of WW, Pantheon and Yi. I can farm jungle all day long and I won't have as much gold as a laner. The increase on spawn time on camps made it harder to get gold and made it more beneficial to gank lanes, exert control over enemy jungle and dragon.
The dragon buff isn't huge at the beginning of the game, but it will mean something near the end of the game. There are certain champions that will take this investment and start putting it to use early game AKA Pantheon. I tend to get dragon at level 3 / 4, so by the 10 min mark dragon is taken. I can solo it easy and the best part is I ward the enemy jungle and they don't even come near the dragon pit to ward it, or even take the crab to grant that vision.
The changes to jungle def changed the game meta since dragon control is a must from the very beginning of the game. It's not something to simply take for some gold, but it is an investment that can be measured as more important than a tower or to sacrifice a tower to get a dragon.
For example, by the time I take Baron if I was successful with my dragon control I would have 4 dragons under my belt. I take baron and then if we can get the 5th dragon as well. My team gets a huge buff, but the window for the buff to be very beneficial is small. I must have had 4 dragons already taken, any buffs on my team to be doubled(preferably baron) and lanes pushed to further take advantage of it all.
The best games I've played personally have been the games that dragon has been contested every time. There was constant vision and sweeping and epic dragon steals from the very beginning. I wasn't allowed an early dragon since it was ALWAYS warded, when it was up. Bot lane, you need to ward tri bush and river to prevent from getting ganked. Well, now you NEED to ward dragon to prevent those early dragon kill champions from taking it.
The game has evolved the jungle from a simple utility to give your top lane extra exp / gold from a solo lane and give you freedom to do the same with the mobs, to making the jungle have a distinct impact on the rest of your team. With the smite camp buffs, I can use them offensively and defensively to help my laners out.
I.E smite my wraith camp to sweep any wards in the river area to prevent vision and give the lane a better gankability for myself. Smite wolf camp and I get a ward in our jungle to prevent successful counter jungling and also to help keep the roaming to a minimum if that lane side is pushed to base as well. I can smite frog or golems to make myself a more successful gank. smite golems, walk into lane and have my first attack be a stun, they use escape, and then i use my gap closer since the golem camp gave me a stun.
All in all, the jungle has changed the meta, but this game is a strategy game, the path to victory changes all the time, you just need to accept you may need to actually think about how things are done in game now.
: 67 base AD+ 25 AD from Pickaxe+7 from doran's blade=99 AD at level 8
