You obviously arent aware of all the Sage Aldaris 'Incidents' going on in the forums xD
Todd never said you could DIRECTLY upgrade your forts, but that they could BE upgraded, which they can... if you go through the DGMQ
Yup people just assumed it would be like previous Bethesda safehouses/strongholds I guess.
I like it though, I didn't really have money to spare upgrading an entire castle, and I feel like since I'm being the head errandboy doing the quests, that cleaning up my fort is the least they could all do for me.
And a cool thing about the upgrading is that it can happen while you're actually inside the building! Like I went looking for a forge because the place seemed to have everything else, couldnt find it and I know I checked the right spot. Well I went and talked to the tech chick, and she said the Russian troll trainer guy wanted to talk to me, so I went back, and lo and behold a smithy had been installed while I had my back turned.
Then I went into the room with the fireplace and there was a bunch of food on the table. It's like every time you turn your back they upgrade something, it's pretty cool.