Novice Network needs to be reworked

As Novice Network currently stands, it's just a boys club of individuals who cater their chat to the people who only agree with them. If this is the intended function, please disregard.

However, if it is not, then please introduce some reforms. I only see nothing but mentors and the same people who are all mentors or otherwise using the chat for their own personal club, rarely do I ever see any actual novices.
Please introduce a rotation or something that shuffles the structure of the network.

But if novices aren't asking for help then that would mean the Novice Network is actually fulfilling its intended role.

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Originally Posted by Meraut

As Novice Network currently stands, it's just a boys club of individuals who cater their chat to the people who only agree with them. If this is the intended function, please disregard.

However, if it is not, then please introduce some reforms. I only see nothing but mentors and the same people who are all mentors or otherwise using the chat for their own personal club, rarely do I ever see any actual novices.
Please introduce a rotation or something that shuffles the structure of the network.

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Be an actual mentor and do it like we do here: mass invite sprouts, because new blood is what makes a channel lively, active, and meaningful instead of stale. Perhaps it sounds trite, but when you have an influx of hundreds of new sprouts every week, you can see how it will shift back the chat to its intended purpose, which is helping new players and fostering a sense of community for them.

NNs that complain that they're stale, gatekeepy and full of trolls aren't doing their best to remediate to the actual problem. It's a constant effort you have to pull every week, and it won't bring changes in a day. If your NN doesn't have over 200-250 sprouts at peek times in the evening, especially in the week end (and over 300-350 when you're preferred server), then you could probably do better.

The novice network is perfectly fine. I have visited the NN across lots of data centers and regions and the majority are extremely good. What happens is I see sprouts or returners ask a question and then either myself or another mentor answers the question.

Most novice networks get some sprouts that love being in there so much that they have become friends of sorts with the mentors there. Then they don't want to leave and find it really hard to say good bye when they begin the latest expansion.

There are discussions in the novice network, yes, but often these relate to a question that was asked, or the topics aren't that bad. The activity of these discussions helps to show sprouts that the chat is active and remind them that it exists.

Now, there are some worlds that have a really bad novice network, where certain individuals discuss really bad topics such as politics or are outright trolls. In this case, I agree that SE should have a tougher stance, because they ruin what is otherwise a great system. People report these trolls and often don't get anywhere, although they have rarely or they have coordinated to kick them on a regular basis.

There is also "seasonal" bad behaviour. To give an example of this, let's say a major patch releases and a big streamer starts playing. There can be worlds where the novice networks get filled with crafter/gatherer mentors using twitch lingo for a few days. That is temporary though. Often these seasonal individuals unsubscribe after a while or get bored and do something else / chat somewhere else.

Finally, I agree with the above poster that new blood is what solves this problem. As a mentor, it is your job to click the Sprout icon and then click the magnifying glass to search for sprouts to invite. If you mass-invite them the way it describes, it injects so many sprouts into the chat that it dilutes all the mentors and stops it from being just their club. I remember once or twice I saw a really poor state on a world so I just mass invited sprouts to shake things up before returning to my homeworld.

If it's broken. it must be fixed.

The fact we even joke about it's state being a "Club" Clearly means things must change.

Just like there's social things, chat things that can be changed and implemented.
(Like actually giving players a true/real world chat. and/or giving a chat only for advertising-or risk reports if done elsewhere-)

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Originally Posted by Meraut

As Novice Network currently stands, it's just a boys club of individuals who cater their chat to the people who only agree with them.

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That varies from world to world. I think the biggest problem is that different players have different ideas of what SE allows within NN chat. I've seen arguments over whether location flags are spoilers and so shouldn't be allowed to whether or not someone can offer to invite novices to their FC via NN chat.

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Originally Posted by Dorito_Burrito

But if novices aren't asking for help then that would mean the Novice Network is actually fulfilling its intended role.

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Or that it's failed so badly to fulfill the intended role that most give up trying. I have caught many occasions were sprouts were ignored as mentors argued over something not even game related. Try to answer the sprout question and it can quickly get buried in other discussions going on. It's a bit frustrating to have to send a tell to help someone out when you know their question is one that some of the other novices likely have and would benefit from learning the answer.

I like the global server chat. They need to double the player cap.

The NN on Zodiark is a dumpster fire and has been a dumpster fire for as long as I've been around. 75% of it isn't in English and, before I left, asking a question actually earned me a telling off because I dared interrupt the mentors talking about PvP balance.

Personnally I stopped going to the NN for that reason. I fist joined to help players, but it end being spammed by people that tell their day. With the limited number of configuration you can have(4), I used to put NN with my party, FC and shout, but it was flooded with unwanted discussions, that were rarely about helping someone. I just stopped bothering. It's a nice thing on paper, but as long as some players continue to act like the kings of the NN, it's gonna stay trash. Just give the players a general chat, so that the NN can return to its intended use (but that would mean showing how similar to other MMO the XIV community is).

It's used for help when people need it but it's mostly a global chat and honestly I think that it's best left alone as is. Without NN Chatter the game feels even more empty and lonely than it already is. When new people join the game they at least see this constant chatter even if they don't participate and it makes the games world feel active.

NN and global chat should just be two different chats.

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Originally Posted by gllt

NN and global chat should just be two different chats.

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Thing is though if SE was going to add a global chat they would have 10 years ago.

I'm glad that there isn't a global chat. Just zone chat can be bad enough in some MMORPGs. And we have zone chat in the form of /shout.

The most ideal social circles in MMORPGs are guild chats or any other smaller chat that they have like our linkshells, because it keeps likeminded people together, instead of mixing people together who don't vibe or have the same interests.