1. You really do need an alliance for help both in defence and shared knowledge about strategy and ship build plus sharing resources with you.

2. The bullies really annoy me too. I am not defending them but have assumed and/or concluded the follwing are true;

- First of all this IS a PVP based game ultimately. Many of us are trying to get caught up on ships/weapons/tech to compete but even when you have the exact same fleet as a higher level opponent they have way more experience in PVP. Unless you are naturally great in at these kind of games there is a long learning curve. Many people only play this game for PVP and just do the farming to have the tech to be able to kick everyones **** AND they want to use it. Some invest a lot of work for that ability while others invest a lot of money.  Either way they want to play with their toys without damaging them as much as possible. Since it is a PVP game it is pretty much viewed as a game of war. People don’t want to just win, they want to dominate with exreme predudice.

- There is also competition among alliances for having the highest reputation for kicking. other players and other alliiance’s **** as a matter of pride. There are probably a very few players that only really enjoy a battle of equal’s. There are others that do enjoy the challenge of battling more equal level players BUT obviously win or lose these battles cost more in repair time or repair coins which ultmately leads to less playing time fun for them.Even these players are going to spend a lot of time picking on easier targets when available. A related point of pride in high level players is being able to do the most damage/kill the most fleets WITHOUT taking on any real damage to their own fleets. The same goal is needed in farming to level up. Ideally for farming you want a fleet and a strategy that takes on no damage or such little damage that you can instant repair your fleet for free. Regardless of whether you are being bullied or not their is a strange (to e at least) disrespect hatred of anyone complaining about being bullied or advocating for more fairness in the game. If you make the mistake of doing it in game in the sector chat prepare to have a lot of players tell you to grow up, grow a spine, pay your dues (etc) and you are likely to get bullied even more. Complaining in game is like blood in the water to sharks.

- Just like in competative sports competative online gaming often attracts those with more aggressive attittudes where they feel better about themselves the worse they beat the other players. If you have perfectly equal fleets then it’s strictly a game of flying skils, the next best level of competition is the skills involved in developing fleets and fighing strategies between fleets in the same “range”. There is a respectful level of accomplishment in developing fleets that take advantage of the most benefits available to a class of ships and choosing the right equipment for deadliest effect. This is part knowledge of the game through learning and part practice. Lower level players are often bullied but you may just be easy target practice for other players working on their fleet or skills. If I am trying out how to fly a new class of ships or employ a new strategy etc I will practice against a mcuh lower level Vega fleet and work my way up. Likewise if you find yourself being used for target practice it’s not personal even if it is very frustrating.

- The “culture” developed in this game seems to be that low level players and alliances all need to go through an “iniation” of having your **** kicked hard. The one’s bullying you - were bullied badly when they started playing.now it’s their “well earned” turn to be the bully instead of the one bullied. Some spread the joy around and some enjoy finding one unlucky player or alliance to focus their their attention on.

IMHO these are some of the reasons why. What’s more important than asking why is moving on and focus on how to minimize the bullying toward you. Previous replies have already addressed this. Take that advice and expect it to be a journey not a race.