Your mentor system is Horribly Horribly Flawed.

[Cnidarian]

snip.

I find most of the horror stories people post about their Novice Network are remnants from when it was first put in place and everyone was forced to auto join the channel. In fact, in some of them the people admit that they filtered the channel off their chat because of how bad it was and haven't looked at it since. This indicates that they obviously didn't know SE removed all Mentors from the channel and made it so you had to use a toggle command to rejoin the network. To me, that was the turning point of the Novice Network as for the most part, only people who want to help are now in the channel as a Mentor.

[Larkspur]

Ironically enough, a couple newbies in our Novice Network were Trial players, and they seemed to like our company and actually were convinced to buy the full game. Everyone that day was nice and just throwing down and having some laughs. I know Novice Network chat isn't meant for casual use but it seems like it had its uses there to recruit more players into the full experience.

[Kosmos992k]

I knew this was going to fail before it even went live the moment they announced the requirements to become a mentor. It is far too low and all they created is another way to stroke your epeen. Personally if you want to help someone then you shouldn't need a title or icon to do it. It's one of the reasons I'm not a mentor.

The issue is not that the requirements are too low, the issue is the temperament and attitude of many players who became mentors for the glory or prizes. The point of being a mentor is to be there to offer help and advice, to coach others and get them established. I don't come anywhere close to qualifying as a mentor, but I've played since Beta 3, I have a tank, 2 healers, a caster and a ranged DPS at 50+, and most of my gatherers and crafters are there too. I know the game, jobs and classes well enough to help new players, I know the mechanics in the game well enough to help new players, and one of the main reasons I play is to help others have fun in the game. But, I absolutely do not qualify for this mentor system.

As you say, if you want to help someone, just help, you need no icon to do it. However now that the system is there, many players who otherwise might ask me or you for help will overlook us in favor of someone wearing a crown. They might even presume that since we lack a crown, we are not going to be able to help.

The pity is that the mentor system should have been more open to veteran players, not just those with specific numerical achievements, but there needed to be some kind of screening process to weed out those who are not fit to be a mentor, or who really only want the stuff, and are not that interested in helping others. That would have taken more time investment from SE of course, but by conferring mentor status there is an implicit 'official' approval of the conduct of those wearing the crown. They are seen by new players as something that SE has put in place to help them. The truth is that's not really the case at all. Without quality control, the quality of 'mentors' will range from bloody awful and potentially harmful, to excellence.

[Azper]

I like to call it, "The Scarlet Crown," because more often than not it is a badge of shame. If anything the attitudes and actions of those wearing the status has taught me to avoid mentors rather than seek them out.

[StrejdaTom]

Mentor system is fine. Problem are people who expect mentors to be full time GMs (without the salary) caring only for the wellbeing of newbies. I haven't seen a single bad mentor everyone is speaking about but I have met hundreds of people who spent their time answering questions, going into low dungeons etc. with newbies while it gave them 0 reward.
Shame that so many people have anger against one small crown they wish to have above their head so much lol.

[NorthernLadMSP]

I agree it's a complete joke. I have never, ever once seen a "mentor" actually be helpful or friendly when there are new people in the dungeons/trials I've gotten through DF. They either say nothing at all, or act completely rude and entitled.

I could become a PVE, PVP and crafting mentor, however I choose not to because I don't want my name associated with such a horrible reality.

[LineageRazor]

I agree it's a complete joke. I have never, ever once seen a "mentor" actually be helpful or friendly when there are new people in the dungeons/trials I've gotten through DF. They either say nothing at all, or act completely rude and entitled.

There's no excuse for rude and entitled mentors - but silent ones? Sure. If there are no questions being asked, then what is there to say? A mentor in duty that is running smoothly and silently has no obligation to speak up, any more than a regular player does - and if they did speak up, what good would that do, giving advice where none is needed?

I see that you, as I, are on Gilgamesh. I don't know if you've ever participated in the Novice Network channel, but sprouts are asking for AND receiving helpful advice all the time. Sure, there's occasions when the casual chat gets a bit out of hand, but all told the network is serving its purpose. Many sprouts have lamented that they really wish they didn't have to leave the network as their time of expiration approached, and I hope that many of them work to become mentors themselves so they can give to others as they have been given themselves.

The mentor network is, quite possibly, the most positive social environment SE has added to the game, far moreso than Free Companies were (which, frankly, do more to divide the playerbase into cliques rather than encourage socialization - I'm sure just about anyone here has heard of abuses where folks will kick people from parties to get their FC members in, or whatever). It's not perfect, but I'd hardly call it a complete joke.

[NorthernLadMSP]

No, I haven't used the Novice Network. My experiences are based on seeing many, many "mentors" in all forms of dungeons, raids, trails and roulettes. People will announce they are new, and in my experience, about 95% of the time, the mentor says nothing, provides no tips or is flat out rude (as I stated above).

In my opinion, if you aren't someone who wants to be helpful, then why are you a mentor?

And if the answer is, well it's random DF people vs. people who are specifically on your same server - that's not really an excuse.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Please understand that the burden of proof doesn’t lie solely on the mentor to prove they are worthy of the title, but that those they help - either willingly, or by random matching - must also be willing to receive help and not be quick to pass judgement on a mentor purely based on past experiences. Let each mentor be held to the standard, but judged individually by how well they meet/do not meet/exceed the standard.

[bounddreamer]

I'm a mentor. And I'm not there as a mentor to be intrusive or obnoxious. I'm not going to offer unsolicited advice. I'm there to perform my role and do so capably. If someone had questions I'm happy to speak up. If someone's doing something wrong, not just a matter of opinion but objectively wrong, I'll do my best to give guidance. I try to have my keyboard at hand when I'm running roulette but if I'm on voice chat or the cat is in my lap I may be silent and wave, bow, dance, etc.

A mentor isn't someone who acts like a GM, as others have pointed out. Traditionally mentors work with those who seek their advice. Aside from that for the most part I'll assume you don't need it.

Also - nowhere when becoming a mentor does it require you to swear, and be, a paragon of virtue upholding all that is right and good with the saintliest of gamers. Mentors are people. They get tired. They have limits. They see "x" behavior repeated so many times they get to the point of snapping. They get treated rudely. I was told to "eff off" by another mentor for correcting misinformation they gave to the party.

Mentors are people too. If you're treating them badly because you're assuming they will behave a certain way, you're probably creating a self fulfilling prophecy, as well as contributing to an overall negative player environment.