The auto-join option for Novice Network should be off by default, not on.

Lately, I've found it exceedingly difficult to get into the Novice Network so I can do as a mentor is expected to do, save for the dead hours of the night/morning.

The problem is that it gets clogged up by countless mentors who don't even use it and either aren't even aware they're taking up space or are simply sitting in there like it's some kind of status symbol.

I think that defaulting the auto-join to off when first becoming a mentor, or better yet, on every log-in would help alleviate this issue and mostly keep out players who aren't actually interested in it.

I agree with you. There's a lot of people with mentor status that just hide the chat rather than actually use or participate in it. I think Mentors should not be automatically added to the Novice Network chat, but have to join it manually. That way, the people that want to be there make the effort to do so, and those who just want a crown next to their name can have that without wasting space in the chat.