Tbh, I really enjoy the game. I did my first season (where I think our league was in 4.3, 4,4 being released SUPER shortly after the league was created) and then we swapped to 4.5.
One of the things that can make it hard to see properly in older leagues, as I understand it, is that the talent influx has been reduced remarkably.
When I see some of you older users complaining about too many INT's, too many fumbles, etc. - I think a reasonable explanation could be, that the game is simply tuned for a lower overall skill than you have in your older leagues. The change from linear to parabolic skills will do that.
Simply put, the difference between 80 and 99 in a skill is MUCH less now than it was before, so in older leagues where there's overall more highly skilled players, the game might be a bit iffy, compared to the intentions.
In 4.3, I saw more safeties and sacks than I do now. We had several teams with 3+ ties after the allocation draft. Sure, we still have defensive fistfights, but we also see games finishing with 50+ points.
I like this game and I think the development is closer to good and very playable, than it might seem, as the changes in code doesn't change the players in the same go.
--- All of the above is, of course, pure speculation and just a result of my observations. ---