Things need to change

There's almost nothing here I disagree with.

Except: "We have watched this game change so much from what it was originally. some changes were welcome to add to the dynamic of the game, like the evo upgrades for shield progression."

Yes, this game is completely different now than it was when in launched. From my perspective one of the biggest changes the developer has made has to do with the role of luck in the game. Your example of evo shields is a case in point.

Back in the day, when getting lucky (by finding a level three shield or a gold barrel stabilizer) was a thing, the balance of an engagement could be tipped by that luck. "Competitive" players hated that because they were convinced they were losing to bad players who just got lucky and they felt that was "uncompetitive" and "unfair." They were wrong. Luck management was a legitimate skill which most players never even understood, much less bothered to master, because why think about something when you can just get cheats and shoot your way out of trouble?

So now, here we are, with evo shields, weapon arsenals, loot bin resets, care packages with gold tier weapons, deathbox respawns, and I can't even remember what all else. Everything you need you can now "earn," or are simply given if you wait long enough. And tryhards love it because all the boring looting is gone and now they can hit the ground shooting and stay that way until they get eliminated. And what all these anti-luck mechanics produce is a sadly rigid mechanism for getting to the final three. In the past few seasons I've been able to predict with shocking accuracy at exactly what point in the match I will "find" my happy scopes, at exactly what point I will get a level two shield, and later, a level three, at exactly what point I can expect level three attachments to appear. And even when I'll be able to ditch my level three weapon for a gold tier devotion. Rinse. Repeat. Every single match exactly the same. The only variable any more is the quality of enemies. And that doesn't vary by much thanks to the horrendous matchmaking. But it does vary a little. Which is something. Sadly, having ONE FACTOR in the game that I can't completely predict does not provide enough variety or surprise. These are the qualities that have been sucked out of the game. And your evo shields were the start of it.

So love the changes that you love, if that's really how you feel, but think carefully about the evils that have come with them, and think just as carefully about early season player counts vs. now. And ask yourself, in all honesty, which was the better gameplay.