Back then when they were removed I was one of the players that got really pissed off with the decision. A deployment limit would've been the best solution, and probably increasing their "hp" too by a lot.
But the "cba, just del" solution kicked in, and guess what, the community adapted. No more ranged nests (or the few ones are being removed systematically).
Some of the siege maps where fun with ladders, but the great majority were completely ravaged with the insertion of ladders, specially ladders directly to flag house. Plain stupid.