Red alerts should be restricted to RA and above.
 

I feel red alerts should be restricted to the level of RA and above. I feel this way for several reasons, first of all new players tend to probe farm which insures defeat for players going in for the accolade. Second lower level players simply dont have the experience to fight the borg thus insuring defeat for the more experienced players thus preventing victory in the red alert and preventing players from getting there accolades. Third, lower lever ships simply dont have the fire power, armor or ability to take on the borg. Fourth, The borg missions are restricted to a higher level for a reason but the red alerts are open to all players I fail to see the logic in this equation, if you are going to restrict the Borg missions to the higher level players and borg space to the higher level players shouldn't you restrict the Red Alerts as well. As a Vice Admiral in the game I have lost many red alert instances due to lower level players probe farming, simply not having the capability to fight the borg and not having the experience, to fight the Borg. So please restrict Red Alerts to the rank of Rear Admiral and above.

No. First of all, I lost many times with only VA in the instance, because either the players didn't work together or weren't able to fit their role (Escorts rushing foward and wondering why they get shot to pieces instead of letting the cruiser tank, people taking on groups alone etc.).
Second, the whole story idea of a "Borg invasion" would just be lost, if you'd turn the whole thing into a Gamma Orionis DSE.

But what I agree with is the fact that low level players lack the firepower and abilities to compete, although they are boosted to RA, still they fly a Constitution class or worse. So I'd suggest that Borg strength should depend on the players level and the groups put together from people of the same rank.

Besides, did the difficulty increase recently? I've been absent for some time, when Red Alerts were introduced they were quite easy to handle and now the simplest mistake gets you blown to pieces, at least so it seems to me.

Absolutely disagree with restricting RAs.

When I was trying to get the accolades, I lost just as many RAs to VA probe farmers as I did to lower levels not having enough firepower/prob farming.

So using that logic, I guess we should ban VAs? ;)

As long as you have 3 Rear/Vice Admirals with good DPS, having a couple of low levels shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

If you're in a Red Alert and you're the only VA, you'll definitely lose, but just think of it as an opportunity to help the lower levels get some good experience.

every time i have been with a group of ra's and above we have won and when I have been with lower players i have always lost, due to the lack the firepower and experience to win i mean there is no way these lower level ships can compete with the Borg ships plus every time I have played with lower level players they have gone straight to probe farming and we loose the instance and it is really frustrating

It'll be no less frustrating when you join a group of Rear/Vice admirals who probe farm and you fail the Red Alert.

You just have to take the failures with a grain of salt.

And sometimes you will have to carry more than your share of the load in a fight. I've been in groups where other Rear/Vice admirals weren't doing half the damage I was doing. Often times, I spend more time healing others than I do myself, even while the enemy is putting a lot of dents in my hull.

Lack of damage/probe farming isn't just common among lower levels.

is not just the lack of damage and probe farming lesser level players are less experienced and there ships can deal the damage or take damage. the also lack experience and they are clueless on how to lay there ships out to do maximum damage and as I pointed out earlier the rest of the Borg content is restricted to certain levels for a good reason and just like the rest of the borg content in the game the red alerts should be restricted as well. Furthermore at least RA level ships are built to deal damage and take on the Borg and Vice Admirals dont usually probe farm as they have nothing to gain from it but they do want the accolades as they cant level up anymore so going for accolades is all they really have left. It is usually the lower level players probe farming. Upper level players know how to layout there ships and they have experience, fighting the Borg. They know how to team up and work with a team while lower level players may not know how to do that.

The lower tier ships are nowhere near the problem they're made out to be in my experience. Yes they can't deal the damage of a RA/VA ship but they can (and do) contribute. My problem, and I hate this with a passion, is RA/VA players that just cannot play their class. Engineers that can't tank a lot of damage, Tacs that don't do any damage and Sci that doesn't SNB when the Spread is on the command ships buff bar or throw SS on it whenever hull is exposed. This is what usually results in a lost instance in my experience.
As for probe farming, I've never seen a lower tier ships even trying because alone they can't kill them. Whenever I have seen probe farmers it's always an RA/VA character, as you mention they have little else to do so it makes sense but it's still annoying to everyone else in the instance.

whats happened to me is that a bunch of lower level players when the borg mothership comes they all focus on the probes and they start probe farming and no one or me and another player are left alone to focus on the command ship, it is very frustrating but you are right also player should know how to play there class and not enough players do. Also another huge problem is lack of teamwork if everyone were to target the same side of the captial ship at the same time the ship can be killed alot easier, or when someone communicates something the other players dont follow, I am a VA in the game i didnt get to the highest level and max out my character by not knowing what i am doing, I wish other players would see a VA and think hmm he is the highest level in the game his character is maxed out he has fought the borg he probably knows what he is doing. If people would work together, use there class of ship correctly and use there abilties correctly alot more of these instances would be won. I also have had people drop out of the team just after the captial ship comes leaving the rest of us on the team to rot, one ship really does make a difference in these battles.

I actually prefer the lower tier ships to target the probes. I'm not sure what ship you use but I usually play Sci/Escort so my healing is limited and they have even less. By targeting the probes they free me to target the command ship. Although it takes a while it's possible for a T5 Escort and a couple of LTCs to take the command ship depending on which it is (I've found some to be much easier than others).

I wish this was always the case. Although usually a VA level player will know what they're doing it's far from uncommon to see a VA that isn't even running a single EPtS on their ship and clearly doesn't know how to play their class. The problem is probably more to do with how fast you can level than the players themselves, I've seen new players level to VA in less than 16 days so it's hardly surprising they have no idea what to do when they get there.