A couple points here...
I'm not sure whether the color of the radar bars is a Fester or HTC issue, but all you have to know is the enemy dar bar appears one pixel row lower on the map than the friendly bar, which is always on top, so as long as you know this the color really isn't an issue.
The layout of the bases is in my opinion as close to fantastic as we have had. Fester used a large map grid, but then essentially made it a medium sized playable map, using base layouts to create fronts that funnel players into fights. Most large maps have a layout where there are many options on where to take the fight as fields are numerous and there's no natural choke point. This makes player interaction happen less, and what you get is a cat chasing its tail effect on the map where each side will hit the other's undefended bases as it's easier to gain real estate, especially with lower arena numbers, by hitting the enemy where they aren't.
While I would almost always support more choice as opposed to less, there is a need for structure to promote player interaction and combat. Fester's map layout achieves this, and does it quite well. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it's far better than the majority of the alternative maps we have in creating good gameplay conditions. Ask the Euro's what it's like to play at off peak times on other large maps where milking is the norm... Fun isn't it?
I get why some may not like it, but I didn't subscribe to the game to try to minimize the time I have fighting other human opponents in an awesome massively multiplayer game. I joined up to maximize it, and hence the fun I would have.