Additionally, I'd like to know when loadouts were removed from the game. I can find the ESR post on the update when it was introduced, but no post of the update where it was removed.

I think that was the "apology update" and from what I can see here it should have been in the last quarter of 2015:

http://www.esreality.com/post/2756038/quake-l...nd-beyond/

Some more stuff you might find clues in:

http://www.esreality.com/post/2776781/ql-stea...-syncerror
http://esreality.com/post/2778188/ql-steam-ex...es-public/

Absentmindedly stumbled across this, probably has what you're looking for:

https://www.quakehaus.com/news/category/quake...ve-update/

Nice, thanks :D

why do you ask

looking for excuses

Just felt like watching some demos of the big players again to improve my game... but there's not much sense to watch games pre-changes for the sake of improving, as the meta was different then.

For real? The last big change was the LG damage change, I think. Or what else could have changed the "meta" ?

Yeah, seems to be so

do you remember anything bout lg range being changed after 2013? me and a buddy are having an argument about this.

Don't remember, maybe you can find it here:

https://www.quakehaus.com/news/category/quake...ve-update/

not many adjusted there style accordingly imo, evil still pushed hard with LG but just did less dmg

stupidest change ever imo, esp considering they made QC lg 7

Yeah, not sure if I like it too. But i think it did have an impact on styles. Just watch some pre August 2014 Cypher demos, i.e. Quakecon 2014 finals. LG was viable in close and sometimes very close range combat, often being prefered over rockets.

Just felt like watching some demos of the big players again to improve my game

Rapha referred to some gameplay changes (i think movement and netcode) in one of his latest interviews that made the game more aggressive in about 2011 iirc. And then obviously there was that change where LG went to 6 dmg.