QUOTE(caiax @ Mar 11 2014, 16:10)

As a GSC member you're already getting 37K credits worth of combined credit and Hath value everyday you log in and hit your Dawn of a New Day. Sure you went 280 levels underequipped, but with your gold star now you're in a great position to save up for a while, consider your gear needs, and pick up what you'd like from shops and auctions. In my opinion, and I'm not referring to you specifically by this, players with so much free income everyday shouldn't need any help from a free shop (I know it's not really free in the sense that real money has to be paid for the gold star, but that's not the issue here).
thanks to you and Lement for writing what i was just thinking.
i'm going to send a few items, but even without the actual stop to selling i wouldn't have even considered to sell to gold stars equip i recieved for free thanks to the kindness of higher level players, even less if they're a hundred levels above other people who donated something here.
nothing personal against firecat, but this amply goes against the original purpose of this shop. in his particular case it may seem a bit double-play since i answered him quite positively a few days ago, but evidently i didn't note his star before...
i still don't know when and how we will re-open that section, maybe we could actually raise the limit level a few, but don't expect to change anytime soon...
[edit] also, note that without further hints, i'll put the main purpose of this shop (help newbies) above the secondary purpose (help other players), so if newbies asked for the same item a veteran did, i'll send it to a newbie, even more if the veteran didn't actually do a valid offer
i also included the following answers in my post and not in the common account since they're my personal thoughts:
QUOTE(Aegnor Alkarin @ Mar 11 2014, 09:59)

Still taking donations? Time to start dumping Superiors and Exquisites.
yes, they're always welcomed (IMG:[
invalid]
style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
QUOTE(malkatmp @ Mar 11 2014, 06:37)

imo, i would bump the lvl cap from 150 to 250. or at least let the people <lv250 get some equipment at a discounted price (ie 5k for superior, 10k for Exq, 20k for Mag, & 40k for Leg).
i would do the same too, but this is still under discussion. surely i'd say that silver/gold stars cannot buy anything from here.
another problem is that a few days can pass before all the staff members can say their opinion, so i think it will require a bit of time...
QUOTE(malkatmp @ Mar 11 2014, 06:37)

also, personally, one of the biggest hurdle for a new player is understanding the "game", ie what's good/bad or what you should do. so maybe shifted the 1st post focus from donations to New Players. like what fernicar has said, a suggestion set or help section maybe nice. ie Leather set + Longsword/Estoc. Shade set + 2H mace. etc. getting a mix phase + cotton set with mostly 1-2PAB stuff means you're going to have a bad time. or even a leather set with a 1PAB longsword is less bad, but still bad.
that could be a good idea, many times a simple hint is more useful than a whole arsenal, but:
1) that's what the 'Ask the experts' topic is up for (IMG:[
invalid]
style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
2) i can assure you that with the current setup we surely don't get bored, with the help section too we could send items even less often (IMG:[
invalid]
style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
QUOTE(fernicar @ Mar 11 2014, 06:11)

Is there a way for you FreeSHop to help players based on info other than the current player level?
What about a survey...
<snap, list of questions>
You could fix the shop rules after the survey and use a version number for the rules based on the date of the last edited version or something.
interactions with other users are important/useful/so on..., that's the meaning of
FreeSHop Suggestions thread and i surely haven't doubts about your good faith, but autocertifications are always dangerous to handle...
This post has been edited by Scremaz: Mar 12 2014, 01:25