Old players says shields are for a newbie, avrage players says shield are cheat, while a newbie would say it's the game.
The only person who's right is the newbie.
The shield is a part of the game, both a good and bad.
If you look on battle1, the shield there is very bad placed.
Shields should be in bonus warps, secrets ect.
My favorite shield is the fire shield, whitch only does 1 damage with its special fire.
While water is more powerfull, also you should choose the right shield to the level.
If water shield where replaced with fire shield in battle1 the game will be a lot different, becuse the fire shield not is that dangerus.
If you dislike shields, don't host level with shield, remove them from your battle1 ect.
But if someone else hostes with shield, it's not your choise if the shield may be used, becuse it's a part of the game.
Shields makes a different gameplay, somehow, JDC finds shields as cheat.
We should try find a way to accept shields in levels, not just make all levels without shields.