Thanks for the advice. I wouldn't say I'm ripped per se, that's made difficult by a combination of the impaired muscle tone symptomatic of my autism and one of the meds I'm on for anxiety, but I work hard to stay in shape and have a high level of real world fitness even if I don't have bulging muscles. 

I have some friends that use it. Apparently the key is to delete you account and make a new one if you're not getting a lot of matches because people with low number of matches are put deeper in the swiping pool.

Hmmm, that's interesting. Perhaps I should try that.

If I were you, I would go to the closest decent sized city. Approach any girl that catches your eye. You got nothing to lose, and in fact you should go for at least 100 rejections before giving up. Of course approaching takes practice so you might get rejected 1000s of times before a good date. 17 matches in 100,000 swipes is not good, but if you had approached 100,000 real life girls then I guarantee you would have gotten more than 17 dates and probably closer to 1,000.

That is a good point. For the record I do also approach women in real life, I don't rely solely on online dating. It's hard though, these days women seem to not want to be approached irl, it's like it has become socially unacceptable.

Far out I need to get laid to bad right now haha.

Here is how I see it.

Between an attractive guy on tinder or being approached in person, I think they would rather be approached.

So for an average guy on tinder or being approached in person, they would rather be approached.

And it should go without saying that an unattractive guy on tinder is more easily rejected on tinder than being approached in person, so again they would rather be approached.

I try, it's just when I approach women in person I get the distinct impression they're uncomfortable and would rather I pissed off. They also tend to wear earbuds as a "don't approach me" thing when in public. 

What scenarions/venues is it acceptable to talk to women these days?

Of course they are uncomfortable, you are just a random dude at that point doing something that people rarely do. But you do intrigue them. Approaching takes practice and lots of thought and sometimes lack of thought (ie: natural). You need to make her feel more comfortable and also add some banter and a flirty flair to it. A common strategy is to have the same interests as them. While you might not like fashion, it is good to be knowledgeable about it so you can use it in conversation. Other topics work well too.

Earbuds are of course a no go unless, they give you an approving look. Gym girls are a no go, keep the gym to yourself.

The best places are simply where a lot of pretty women walk around, so typically shopping malls. Of course the typical places like bars, and clubs are easier.

Step 1. Eat healthy and exercise until you look like a budget version of Brad Pitt. One must be attractive to attract a woman's eye.
Step 2. Become cultured. Read Nietzsche and Kafka. Travel and bring back stories of your escapades. One must be interesting to keep a woman's attention.
Step 3. Become wealthy. Trade bitcoin and stocks. Buy low and sell high. Then buy designer clothes. Rick Owens and Saint Laurent Paris. A fancy car helps too. Women are consumers and attracted to material goods.
Step 4. You won't need tinder or any app. All of those things are memes that don't work. Just go outside and the women will chase after you.

This is reality.
The top 1% of own 95% of wealth.
The top 5% of men get the top 50% of the women.

Step 1 and 2 yes.(but you do not need to be a semi Brad Pitt,healthy looking is always good)

Being wealthy is not needed and Tinder does work but only gives frequent hits for the good looking.

Bolded: You must have had some bad experiences to be so pessimistic about it,and a shallow way to look at women.