I could write an entire column about all of the things Valve changed over the years

I could write an entire column about all of the things Valve changed over the years, and maybe one day I will, but for now it is enough to point in the direction that during the betas the game changed but most of the changes had merits to them which justified them, to varying degrees. Meanwhile the retail era saw changes which were largely negative in their effects on the competitive game.

There were a small handful of positive changes, such as simple hitbox/netcode fixes, making the round timer stop when the csgo skins bomb was planted, improving the money system, improvement of smoke grenades and adding the galil and famas, but ultimately these improvements can't be weighed favourably against the removal of the ability to quick-walk, the more limited spray control of the rifles, the removal of quick-switch on the AWP, the addition of slowdown to consecutive jumps, the changes to inferno, the ability to fire pistols with more accuracy in the air and more.

A few positive additions here and there were not a worthwhile price to pay for all of those negatives which limited how great the competitive game could be. CSGO is still a good game, perhaps the best team shooter based in realism ever created, but even Counter-Strike is not the game it once was. That is entirely down to Valve Software and the decisions they have repeatedly taken to appease the most casual of public server players but with almost no attention or respect paid to the competitive scene.