So at the time I had 361 billion out. I also have much more soy attack and defense. My allies are way better, by far. They gave me more attack and defense than the other person. This other person attacks me, it says I lose 981 mill but they only gain 100 mill. I steal from them and fail and end up having to use a ton of spells, tells me I get 51 million but also tells him he lost 15 million. Why is this a thing.
This is because attacks work based on size. Not how much gold you have out. A player your size well pay a certain amount depending upon the size of the attacker. And steals earn so much depending upon the size of your spies. It has always frustrated me that the gold out doesn't go directly to the attacker. But that is to limit possible exploits. As such the main rule of thumb is attacking a larger player will give you greater profit. However it incurs the risk you may fail more attacks. Also the bully mech adds a level of fails when attacking someone noticeably smaller than yourself. Forums have some great threads about these topics in the best of section and guides.
The attacking person earns a set amount of gold when attacking. This depends on their size in relation to the defender, enemy pots, and a couple other things. The amount of gold the defender has out does not factor in. The defender loses gold based on what is out. If you have more out, you lose more.