@my fellow overly-wordy poster... no worries... coffee didn't help me and my last frigging post was, I openly admit, way too grumpy, lmao.
I agree on the analysis... but on the other side of things (and outside subjective questions of honorable or dishonorable medal acquisitions) Well, I guess the question would be: what would be the point?
That said, from your #113 post, I don't think we really disagree. For everybody, including Belaric, that has no idea what I'm talking about: Guild Advisor.
Everybody with experience know that Guild Advisor is 100% inefficient. It has some pluses depending on how you want to use it, but I'd wholly argue against using it for practically anything, lol. Trust me, using my depos for the Guild states nothing with respect to how much of my own gold I've actually donated. To summarize, it's simply there if Guilds want to use it for something. I personally like that the stats are saved, but it in no-way-whatsoever defines what a player does for their Guild.
That all said. I am 100% against it being used for anything else. It's an internal Guild thingie and, like Hoof said, not everybody uses it and I fully understand why it's a waste to get. That said, I am also 100% against it being "free".
THE POINT: I would argue that absolutely any update on anything NOT use past data.
What's great about the current medals update is that it puts everybody on the same level. Like Belaric said, I could have got a free Diamond medal with the Guild Booster... but who the heck cares? Lots of people are burning stam to get theirs... that's great to me. Even though I have my ideas about how it should be earned.
However, I think it's better for the game that even us oldies have to work for the credit. I would argue that ALL new medals have to start from zero. It seems to me to be the only fair starting point. And deep down, I hardly think people could disagree with this lowly guild guy that is myself and has 51k+ skills cast on Guildies... that anything would have changed on my past behavior or that it somehow negatively affects me.
As a Guild member, I don't need a medal to know what I or my Guildies (past and present) have done for the Guild. Just like I don't need a Guild Advisor.
I love these new medals because they help teamwork. I don't care if they are easy to "abuse". If people want to use their stam or energy to "abuse" the system and get them. IT HURTS NO ONE AND GIVES NO UNFAIR ADVANTAGE TO ANYONE. A shiny medal (or lack thereof) isn't going to make me think you are a better player.
What I'm going to see is a reason to think about what you can do and how you can help your Guild. That to me, is a positive. (o0