Oracle said:
I for one glad that settlements are partially gone. They were seen as property and not in anyway an open feature.
Settlements contributed to bullying on a large scale.
Plarium did the right thing by listening to player and ending them.
You should do research, there are many argument provided for ending them
I never had a problem of any kind with settlements, certainly not bullying, or at least, nothing I would call bullying. I did on a couple of occasions miscalculated and lost some offense, but I also wiped the offense of others at them. I have joined with league mates and allies to set up a wall of tears in them, and reaped the PVP points from those that attack without scouting. Granted, that may or may not work quite as well today with the cheapness of sapphires and lack of troop caps giving rise to Hammers of Pain, but it was fun nevertheless.
Players would spend hours battling over settlements, whether it was 1 archer at a time, or more numbers and far more powerful troops. Hamlets have no such lure and remain a deserted wasteland of inactivity.
I do not see how you an bully someone in a settlement. They're not owned. They are free for all. You choose whether or not to participate. You can spend hours fighting for it, or not. You can choose to shrug it off if someone takes it while you're offline, or you can retaliate upon your return. Should the ability to siege others be removed as well?
This is a war game, and while there are players who likely enjoy harassing weaker players, there are players who enjoy harassing bullies as well.
There is very little a bully can do to a player in this game. Weor upgrades are free. The Catacombs can protect both units and some resources (though the Facebook version can protect far and away more resources).
Even a siege can not stop development, and barely slows it down if the player raids enough. It can actually offer protection in some cases. The player being harassed can harass the bully as well, through various methods.
I have to disagree with your perspective on this. I believe Plarium was very, very wrong in removing settlements.