Hey henrychenhenry,
With the "updated epicenter" you are correct in that you can cap the rings independently. This leads to teams having to pay attention to all the rings and not just the middle ring. This can be good and bad as the game gets down to the wire. Smart teams will move around the map and alternate which rings they capture, especially if they have a ship advantage. The team with less ships will have to pay close attention to what rings are being captured or are captured, so they can prevent point gain.
This is a mode that you have to learn correctly to be successful in. Teams have to play together, DDs have to contest the middle with support from the team. Too often I see teams that love to skirt the flanks but not get into the rings, this is how you give the team too much control over the map. This doesn't mean charge into the middle but definitely contest the rings. Some ships are better at this than others but those ships will need support to do this. Work as a team and you will see better results in Epicenter.
Good luck!