reinforce mode was meant for the defender to set up a time where they have to be online to manually defend their base, if they got attacked during their offtime - as oppositte to beta outposts, where it depends on the RNG.
both systems are meant to "force" both sides to be present at a certain time, if they want to accomplish their goal, which is either defending their home, or destroying some elses home, or to have a big battle with many player involved on both sides.
both systems also have their numbers based on the assumption, that defenders should at least spend 1 hour defending.
on beta islands, not beeing present means, you lose facility points and buff. on gamma island, the first attack will be without consequences for the buildings that went into reinforce mode. -IMHO, thats only an issue with the repair nodes, since those keep the buildings that do not reinforce alive.
you can compare it with having an indestructible, EWAR-immune RR bot behind your fleet, that has no LoS restrictions, so it can also be shielded from Neuts.
*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear