We need a "Turn shield on" command. And I do not mean "Hold down the X key".
I want to be able to turn on my shields, and then activate chat.
Lacking that, I can't really chat while in combat. And then, I'm not really working with my teammates -- we're independents, interfering with each other.
Heck, I want to turn on shields and submit bug reports sometimes :-)
(and as good as the starter shields are: You can't attack, or prep an attack. Nice balance feature.)