The problem with forts is that pvp here in batmud is just retarded. Anyone
whose played this game knows there are certain items that are just widely out
of tune for pvp. Prismatic rods (tho ive heard some talk of them being
tuned), tiamat shield, tiamat cloak, zap staff/wands, heal scrolls, invoke
items, etc all make for battling people equiped with such items, when you dont
have them, almost a joke. In WoW you start out getting your ass whuppped
cause you dont have pvp gear but you can get the gear and after a certain time
it balances. Here in batmud, only the BEST players get that gear, and it
makes them even more vastly powerful in the pvp arena. The traditional
argument I've heard about forts is well "you can just create your army and
attack the forts." Sadly this doesnt work because yes indeed you can possibly
even take some forts while your opponent sleeps...but then you have to hold
them and the very thing that makes top players good (generally they play a LOT
more than you do) makes it much easier for them to get your forts back.
Frankly the pvp here is not balanced and thus the system has been reduced to
just a cash cow for the same elite group of power players . . .

That being said I recognize that pvp will always have certain
inequalities....good players will always be better than those casual ones here
that can't kill tiamat etc. My main problem with forts is that they give
cash, which gives big players even more chance to buy wiz items and get even
more insanely out of tune then they already are.

Personally i prefer the following system: basically pvp is divided into
several "contested" zones within each continent. A player would have to sign
up with a continent's army and would then would be assigned missions to carry
out the army's attacks and defense. The missions would be 3, hard coded
events run in various intervels, something like a capture the flag/kill the
king event, a "hold the fort for x time" event, and an "assault the castle"
event. Players would compete not only against other players but also against
npc monsters in these coded areas. rewards could include special eq, exp ,
some cash or game rewards/titles etc.

I dont think zones were meant to be controlled by a finnish mafia to be used
as their cash cow...but you need to recognize that human nature is what is and
players will always choose to abuse, seek advantage when they can...