Have you ever considered making brackets instead of having the lower levels try to compete with the gold users and level 50s? I know that Spicy needs to make money but having completely dominated events are no fun.
If you're having trouble here's a tip: first get enough farms until the good is + or breaks even. Then begin housing while obtaining a school. Train useless people in soldiers to clear zombie hordes and bam! Ez caca.
Actually, we did used to have lower brackets. I can talk to the team and see if they might think about them again !!