There was an existing thread for that, which wasn't based on opinion but just a compilation of fact. Personally, I think having any a priori guidelines of trade values discourages "marginal" trades, which I see as a bad thing - person X might be very willing to part with a SWU for only 15K miles but, knowing that the "market value" is 20K-30K, might not complete a trade or might pick a less-preferred trading partner to maximize "profit." If the spirit of CC is for it to be a swap meet, not an auction house, then official guidelines of trade values should be discouraged... a historical compilation is one thing (especially since most trades are done transparently and are therefore searchable), but I would oppose officially-sanctioned trade value guides.

(Craigslist has no officially-sanctioned value guides. Neither does eBay, although eBay does have searchable auction histories. If CC has to be compared to one, I'd rather it be compared to Craigslist than eBay.)

There is already no need for third parties to critique offers; every trade is based on the subjective value judgments of its participants... if one is uninterested, one should simply not respond. People who receive no responses to their offers will quickly get the picture; third-party critiquing is entirely unnecessary.

I would oppose this kind of restriction. Forcing altruism/generosity is the quickest way to kill it. While gifting things is very nice and IMHO enhances the community spirit of FT, nobody should be compelled to do so. CC would still function very well even if nobody gifted anything, as long as the vitriol and condescension are removed from posts.

The first is hardly a problem, and what you consider ridiculous, someone else might consider perfectly acceptable (e.g. someone wanting to get rid of miles they know that they will never use, even if it's not a "fair" trade). It's not anyone's place to prejudge what is a "ridiculous" offer; there is a reason why sites like Points.com still prosper despite their one-sided exchange rates.

The second point is very much a problem, but would be solved by eliminating criticisms from offer threads and restricting them to discussions. IMHO, that is really the one and only problem: the hijacking of offer threads by third parties, entirely uninterested in participating in the trade, who feel the need to criticize the offer or the OP (e.g. with comments like "this is a ridiculous offer").

I'm not sure if this is directed partly at me (and if so, we can discuss that privately) but I think you're dead wrong on this. I've read a number of posts from FTers who share these same views and are often on the giving end of gifts. I also haven't heard anyone "begrudging the entire FT community" for trading anything; it's not about the gifts or lack thereof, it's about the attitudes and atmosphere that pervade CC. I think gifts are actually just as common today as they were a few years ago, but visiting CC today feels much different than it did back then - the tone of posts is different, the attitudes are different, and especially the third-party commentary is different. CC could and would still be a perfectly wonderful place to visit even if nobody ever gifted anything, as long as the atmosphere improves.