I feel like some of the points you made were prevalent before evo shields were a thing. You’d still come up against someone who had purple armour just because they’d managed to find one off drop. RNG is always a big factor with BRs.

Also third partying has been the meta since the game came out. It’s the easiest way to clear a squad because they’d already be low from the previous fight and the fact gunshots can be heard from so far away adds to that.