Just logged in to find one FOB invader took 61 of my soldiers and dropped my Security Team from level 82 to 75

That's still not even true. They're paying to have the ability to reach them faster. If your goal is to have those levels at the same time as the competition it is. I'll admit I didn't state it as well as I could have, but I said:

He payed a few bucks to get the majority of the highest ranked equipment in the game a week before I could have gotten a few of them without paying He has his security 100% maxed out with max grade weaponry. You can only develop so many items at once, and the time to actually this all max out is pretty significant in that context.

what exactly are these people "winning"? An online game. Them having the equipment that early by paying imbalances it. I don't think you've gotten to play with any of the new gear, even just the new sneaking suit and battle dress are actually a sizable upgrade.

Do you feel like you're being invaded by people who are way above you? No, people rarely beat my base tbh. Nobody has ever successfully infiltrated my base during a retaliation.

Or are you invading bases that are too hard for you to infiltrate? The main dude with the super expensive base has been on my rivals list since pre update. I used to have zero problem taking his precious S ranks, it was a challenge, but not impossible. The new upgrades are pretty powerful, and stacking them makes a base I was previously able to get through 70% of the time into a freaking stacked base where previously viable tactics are useless (especially smoke grenades), reflex mode is disabled and his guards can survive closer proximity to explosions and have better gear.

You're trying to argue that the payment system in this game gives people a massive advantage over you, but it doesn't.

It does.

/r/metalgearsolid Thread Parent Link - i.imgur.com