Sinnywinks I don't really think that it's right to say people can't defend themselves. 2 of the 3 castles I lost I could have gotten it back with retal by myself.
The first castle I lost was to a guy at 19k ks while I was 10k, and he suicided with 100% sent - unfortunately CLI has been turned to tech at that time and I would not get protection if I retal, though I could have easily got my castle back.
I decided not to make castles for a while since bottom feeding is rampant. Instead I focus on techs and building ATC units to better defend when I'm ready to grow again.
I think if we disable CLI for kingdoms bottom feeding less than 70% their KS, it will help a lot. And when I have CLI, then I could freely retal to get my castle back, or even pre-re if someone bottom feeds me.