User blog comment:Legionwrex/Problems with Multiplayer./@comment-5362182-20121217170951/@comment-1388547-20121220200042

I'm fine with newbies on Silver -- I can carry them if need be. On Gold, I'll kick if somebody is really low-level, say below 100 N7 rating, on the assumption they won't know what they're doing. Beyond that, it's more a matter of evaluating their setup -- if I see a Human Soldier with an Avenger III, I'm less than impressed and might kick, since a Soldier really needs a good gun. If I see a Human Adept with a Predator III, though, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt -- they might be good, and powers classes are much more about player skill and understanding of the game mechanics than equipment. What annoys me is when new players come into a Gold match without equipment: unless you're spectacularly good, you can't expect to succeed on Gold unless you give yourself all the advantages you can.

As for the store, yeah, I think that's a very deliberate part of the game design. Random rewards are very good for getting people to keep playing without giving them anything most of the time. (A good example outside of video games would be lotteries...) But the store does eventually cough up useful items, and the new Arsenal and Reserves Packs are pretty helpful. Arsenal Packs have been giving me Ultra-Rare weapons often than I used to get from Premium Spectre Packs, which I appreciate. (Though I also bought a Reserves Pack on Tuesday that gave me two Ultra-Rare weapon upgrades instead of characters. Weird, but I'm not complaining!)