To be honest, it's really an issue of perspective.
What we all experience through the years of playing are paradigm shifts.
I was originally a strong advocate of the anti-Retro DotD a few years ago.
A lot of things change through the years, and it's apparent that the newer generations of community members are welcomed with more much ease than before.
There's still views on exclusivity, rarity and seasonality. But I believe that's an argument that's long since been put down. It's not simply a lost argument, but an irrational one now.
What is the point of flaunting any rare item if the majority of PL players these days don't even know what it is, or have never seen it before?
There is no longer the general populace of pre-Elixir Generation PL players anymore; in fact, I would even bet that the majority of our endgame players have not seen many days before the gifts of Daily Blessings. In short, there is really no necessity for anything to be rare these days, as there is no one to appreciate it. It's better to have an obtainable item, still uncommon in rarity, but highly appreciated.
Thus, I am fine with STS and their decisions on bringing back this PL Shield. But I'm sure that the vast majority of our older players who quit before L66 cap would be heavily opposed to these latest paradigm shifts.
I do however, see possible abuse of these PL Shields. If a newer member searched up the PL Shield on the forums, 100% of all sources and informational threads up until the past week will point them towards "a highly respectable endowment given to a helpful or insightful forum member, or won by a contest". Remember that out of all 'rare' items distributed in the past, the PL Shield surpasses even the Founder's Helm and Community Shields in exclusivity. And back then, everyone knew that whoever held a PL Shield was someone who could be trusted and respected, at least, until the shields were given out as contest prizes.
Nowadays, a player who received the PL Shield as a "compensation" from Support may easily abuse it- bragging ego rights, continuous false trust, and even temptation to illegally sell their item. Older members of the forum can recall many occasions in which Founder's Helms were transferred illegally, and even a special case in which one player notoriously bought a Droid Suit.
There are several solutions to this issue; simply announce your intention behind distributing these shields to clear up any misleading and prejudiced sense of trust or respect placed in these individuals by the general in-game community, or recolor the shields and even rename them as "Support Shield" instead of PL Shield- anything to distinguish it. In justification, as I've said earlier, these measures are not based off of a restrictive desire to retain the exclusivity of an item; rather, it is to preclude any possible misunderstandings from happening, as we all know that the PL community these days is more susceptible than ever to scams, misleads and misfortunes of all aspects.
-Whirl
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