(Lvl 82) The Fundamental Issues with the Metagame and Actual Solutions...

That's a whole lot to digest! But you touched on 2 things about the lack of motivation for defense - XP and base significance.

Here's what I've toyed with myself:

Tech Plants - instead of just MBTs, you get no tanks outside your WG if you don't have a tech plant. This works better of course when they introduce the buggy, since you still have the 3 lightweights, as the jump between Flash/Sundy is a wide chasm.

Bio Labs - if a faction doesn't hold a bio-lab, you cannot change loadouts/classes/pull MAX units at terminals outside the WG. You can re-spawn, but only with the exact loadout you have!

Amp Stations - if a faction doesn't hold an amp station, you cannot pull air units with any weapon loadouts other than defaults outside the WG. So ESF would be stuck with the default nose gun/AB tanks, Libs with the L30/Shredder/Drake, Galaxies would have Drakes only.

Watch as everyone fights for these 3 bases like they're made of pure auraxium then.

First off, great post. I agree with a lot of it and if it was implemented tomorrow it would be an improvement. However, there are two things I have concerns about:

1) I love the base benefits idea but am worried about when a larger pop empire goes up a smaller pop empire. Naturally the larger pop has more territory and would therefore have all kinds of stacked benefits from bases which would enable them to steamroll the smaller pop faction even easier than if they just had the population advantage.

2) I also like the idea for the reduced spawn timers for a locally outnumbered faction but I don't think the larger faction should have increased spawn timers. I don't think players should be punished for something they can't really control. Rewarding is good for funneling people to what you want them to do but I don't think punishing is as good of a way.