Independents

Independents, or 'Indies' or 'Indeps/InDeps', are people that reject the whole concept of a guild and play the game alone.

Why go Independent?

Going Independent is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is often portrayed. In fact, it often has some very nice benefits, such as:

You have near complete control over the conflicts you go in. No guildmate will ever force you to go to war against a guild because there is no guildmate.
No restrictions or requirements. Many guilds have either attack policies, defensive requirements or both. Being independent means you do not have to follow anything that you don't want to.

Of course though, it does have its downsides:

No one will help you in a conflict. If you attack someone and the guild places you on Kill on Sight, there is no guildmate to help defend you and assist you in attacking the enemy.
Unless you turn mercenary, you will never experience a big war.
Some people love farming Independents, due to the fact that Independents are not part of a guild, and a guild is considered a serious part of the defense of a player. However, an Independent experienced in combat with a powerful fleet can easily avoid getting farmed.

Strangeworld (deceased). One of the most famous Independents who even became a part of AE legend, Strangeworld reputedly only had 2 well hidden astros but he was a very violent player.