PlayStation.Blog Exclusive Q&A: Naoki Yoshida Details FFXIV’s New Mentor System

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

No, it can only be used by characters who have less than 40 hours played (sproutlings). That brings up another question, why the high requirements? I'd have thought this system would be teach level 60s how to play properly, but it's for sproutlings and it would take them longer than 40 hours to reach level 60. Why would someone need to have completeed 1000 instances and have 3 roles at level 60 to tell someone how to unlock the ability to dye their clothing? Here's to hoping they lift the 40 hour limitation and open it to anyone who wants a mentor.

Well you have to be a sprout to be invited to the mentor channel, but it's unclear what happens to that same sprout after they reach 40 hours of gameplay. Perhaps once you're in the channel you're in permanently. If it kicks the sprout upon reaching 40 hours of gameplay I think that's pretty poor design.

I mean what if you invite someone that is right on the threshold ? Will they get kicked immediately after joining without being able to receive any advice ?

And let's be honest, the requirements to become a mentor are really not that strict, especially on the crafting side of things. I'm sure there will be mentors that could use some mentoring themselves.

In other words, if you're a high level player that wants access to help from mentors then just become a mentor yourself to gain access to the help channel.

Btw, as a veteran mmo player, I find it pretty sad that this generation of mmo players need to have a special chat channel because they are too afraid to ask the community at large for help.

[Xaimera]

As I said in the other discussion, I don't think this will include anything you have done before this patch goes live (only your jobs).
You will prolly have to get ANOTHER 500 comms and ANOTHER 1000 dungeon completed.
Just like when they added the mounts for the tank jobs, even if you did high level trials with them already 500 times you still had to do another 200? or 300? w/e the number was.
So this all will only count after the patch perhaps. Just saying if they have done this before they may do it again and again so..... ya >< Let's hope not but well, knowing SE..

[LaylaTsarra]

You will prolly have to get ANOTHER 500 comms and ANOTHER 1000 dungeon completed.

No you won't. The mentor system is set to go into effect upon release. They aren't about to reset the counters.

[Nalien]

You will prolly have to get ANOTHER 500 comms and ANOTHER 1000 dungeon completed.

It is based on Achievements. We already have those Achievements. They're not going to add another set of identical Achievements just to lock Mentors behind, the whole idea behind Mentors is to have a group willing to help new players out, preventing people from becoming Mentors right away like that would be completely nonsensical. It would serve absolutely no purpose to arbitrarily lock people out of becoming Mentors right away.

[Xaimera]

No you won't. The mentor system is set to go into effect upon release. They aren't about to reset the counters.

It is based on Achievements. We already have those Achievements. They're not going to add another set of identical Achievements just to lock Mentors behind, the whole idea behind Mentors is to have a group willing to help new players out, preventing people from becoming Mentors right away like that would be completely nonsensical. It would serve absolutely no purpose to arbitrarily lock people out of becoming Mentors right away.

Let's hope you're right.

[Nalien]

We are, it's right there in the OP;

Q: That’s pretty cool, and I’m sure many new players will appreciate this. So, how will I, as an experienced veteran adventurer of Eorzea, be able to sign up to be a mentor? Are there any tests or trials I have to master, to test my mettle?

A: As I mentioned earlier, players need to obtain certain achievements to be a mentor.

All the requirements detailed have existing Achievements attached;

Dungeon Master, for 1,000 instances.
Leaving a Good Impression IV, for 300 Commendations.
The various Lv60 Job quest Achievements for proof of Lv60 in a Job.

[Waryax]

so if my question is i'm lv 60 whm (been playing for few yrs was never interested in other job) just recently started to try others jobs can I get mentor to help me? I tried to find guides on how to play my classes well at low levels a lot or few guides are just like spam whatever skill or no info really. I feel like I have to search all over the place for helpful info... my hope is someone like me who been playing can learn from a mentor.

Well aside from not being able to join the channel or get any of the bonus benefits, there's nothing really preventing you from looking up a person with mentor status and a job at level 60 that you're interested in learning about. I'm sure that the people who decide to put the mentor icon next to their name would be willing to help anyone out, not just the sproutlings. And of course if they don't really know enough about it themselves to deem themselves good enough to teach, I'm sure there will be some other mentor who can help.

Thinking about this brings to mind the "Looking for Party" search status where you can select classes so it highlights them when someone is looking at your search info. It could be nice if they added a way to mark what classes you could be an "advanced mentor" or something in.

[Felis]

As I said in the other discussion, I don't think this will include anything you have done before this patch goes live (only your jobs).
You will prolly have to get ANOTHER 500 comms and ANOTHER 1000 dungeon completed.
Just like when they added the mounts for the tank jobs, even if you did high level trials with them already 500 times you still had to do another 200? or 300? w/e the number was.
So this all will only count after the patch perhaps. Just saying if they have done this before they may do it again and again so..... ya >< Let's hope not but well, knowing SE..

high level content as a tank - were not logged before the tank mounts came ingame
dungeon runs - get already logged for the achievements

Same what happened during the time the achievements came ingame in 1.x.
Achievements about content that were already logged through the Lodestone filled up at day 1
Achievements about content that was not logged on Lodestone started at 0, even if you did it 100 times already (because it was not logged before it).

[Krindor]

I find it really sad that the requirement is to have one of each role and not just one class. Anyone considered worthy to be a mentor should have a basic understanding of how all the roles works even without having them leveled. Personally I have both tank and DPS leveled and have quite a good understanding on how healer works, but I lack interest in leveling and play a healer and therefore can't use the mentor system. As for having a deeper understanding of the classes you would have to have played them anyways and the requirement in that case should be to have all classes at 60. Also having the 3 roles at 60 doesn't matter, there's a lot of players who simply leveled through FATEs and know less than a player that doesn't even have the class leveled.

[Nalien]

I find it really sad that the requirement is to have one of each role and not just one class. Anyone considered worthy to be a mentor should have a basic understanding of how all the roles works even without having them leveled.

You've got the wrong idea about Mentors... Mentors are not about tutoring players in a given role, they're about helping out new players.

If I was a Mentor, and I only had DPS leveled, then I would be completely unable to help new players out when they need a tank or healer for a dungeon/trial. That's why a Mentor needs to have at least one of each role leveled, so they can help out no matter what.

That's not to say Mentors shouldn't also help teach new players how to play better, but the main focus is having a group readily available to help out with anything. If you could be a Mentor off DPS alone, we'd have the same problem we currently have with queues; Lots of DPS and very few tanks/healers. Then when the tank/healer Mentors are offline, the new players have nobody to help them out when they need tanks/healers. It is less about being a master <role> and more about just being able to help out at the drop of a hat.