(1) It would be helpful if you could post an example of game where your 1800 opponent had a 10 centipawn loss on average. BTW, this isn't that special if it's a game where you basically shuffle pieces and exchange them. In a tactical game, it's very different.
(2) There is no way that blitz ratings here have been deflated, in my opinion.
(3) Ratings fluctuate A LOT. I'm not surprised that players may be playing and be 100-200+ points away from their peak levels. What it centers around is probably a best estimate of your true playing strength.
Basically, the more likely explanation is that sometimes you play good, and sometimes not, and your changing rating will fluctuate around the average until you improve.
Hello Chess.com,
I have been playing on my main account of which I was able to attain 1980+ in blitz just last year. However, I have recently sunk as low as 1780, and I feel the quality of my play is the same or better than when I was 1980. Furthermore, I even notice the centi-pawn of my opponents is ridiculously low even at 1800!! Some game it's 60+ moves with 10 or less. Have I just gotten rusty/bad at this game, or is there a more nefarious reason (a.k.a. intentional rating deflation across the board by chess.com)?
Any comments are welcome.
Feel free to flame me and tell me that I'm bad.