When the Base was introduced I didn't go for it because I saw a lot of people saying it was bad. Browsing this forum I find a lot of people saying it gets worthwhile once you've developed it. But before I go for it I'd like to know what I'm getting into.
How does it work? How does it differ to not having a Base? How do you upgrade buildings etc?
Every game I've ever played, at some point somebody stands up and claims that many/most players are duplicates, bots, whatever and everyone is cheating.
And when you are at the top of your rank and about to go up, you are more likely to get a higher level opponent, with a higher chance of it being a 2-level or more difference