There are fewer of these larger Keeps on the map, and they offer more buildings/services, so in theory they will be in higher demand and harder to capture and hold.
Yes, it's a way to artificially add latency to your client. We added the slider so that we can test what happens when your net connection goes to hell.
Not sure I understand this last one, please explain? (thread appears to be locked, please send answer via message or support email + ask them to forward it my way. thanks!)
Thanks!
Todd