Your mentor system is Horribly Horribly Flawed.

[TaranTatsuuchi]

I still like the idea someone posted in another thread..


The mentor icon shouldn't be a crown.
It should be a watering can.


As the mentors are encouraging the growth of our little sprouts!

[Reiryuu]

I actually need to remove my crown too. It feels too awkward. The last situation I was in was Snowcloak, lvl 50 roulette. I was the only other English speaking player (whm) as I play on a JP server so I felt obligated since I had a crown and spoke English to help our n00b tank. He was awful. Never used flash (was a pld) couldn't keep hate, wouldn't listen to strategies for bosses which made the Yeti a long and painful boss fight. He died so many times on Fenrir I gave up raising him and just let our dragoon tank Fenrir and we killed it with just the three of us. It feels really awkward trying to help people but having them not listen at all. I mean my students don't want to be in class, and I understand that, but at least they listen and participate and try to learn while we are in class. =p

[Rinuko]

It's a crazy system that, in my opinion, is severely flawed. I can't become a 'battle' mentor as I only have a DPS & 2 Healers mentioned but I help players as much as possible & have zero expectation of a reward. A thank you would be great, but even that isn't essential as I know that some people don't even have keyboards initially.

I've seen what goes on in Novice Network Chat & I want nothing to do with it until it becomes a place used by those who genuinely want to help. I'd also like to see a separation of battle & craft/gather network chats as I there can be different mentalities involved.

Funny thing is you can be a mentor from just completing the crafting requirements. Like someone like me who craft/gather every breathing moment in the game but had all classes to Lv50 and 6-7 classes to 60 since HW came out.

I could just apply for Mentorship and can still set my icon to normal Mentor or PVE/Crafting/PVP if I so desire.

[Rakiria]

The mentor icon shouldn't be a crown.
It should be a watering can.

That would be so cute, and probably way less confusing to new players. When I started the game someone had to tell me the leaf on my head does not mean "conjurer" and the chair people are afk and not carpenters (I started in Gridania, it made sense to me that there'd be a lot of those around), so if I saw someone with a crown I'd probably think they are just very good players, not mentors.

[KarstenS]

Except the current SSS primal or top tier recipes are not beginner content. Mentors are there to help NEWBIES.

And how a mentor can correctly answer questions to classes and commands, when the mentor didn't understood them their own?

Not everybody, that is able to to it right, is able to explain it. But someone who isn't able to do it right, will for sure not be able to explain it.

Exaqmple: Lets look at a mentor that is dealing around 500 DPS in i240 and a player is asking how to do better in his DPS job. Do you think that mentor will be able to help this player?

And don't forget: ARR ex primals are part of the mentor roulette. So a mentor should be able to explain these too. Synced.

[MihaelB]

And how a mentor can correctly answer questions to classes and commands, when the mentor didn't understood them their own?

Not everybody, that is able to to it right, is able to explain it. But someone who isn't able to do it right, will for sure not be able to explain it.

Exaqmple: Lets look at a mentor that is dealing around 500 DPS in i240 and a player is asking how to do better in his DPS job. Do you think that mentor will be able to help this player?

And that's not the biggest problem, not only will they not be able to help the player, they will offer extremely bad advice to deal 500 DPS or less with that gear level.

[Zepla]

and the chair people are afk and not carpenters (I started in Gridania, it made sense to me that there'd be a lot of those around).

hahahaha. That's hilarious xD

[Moomba33]

And how a mentor can correctly answer questions to classes and commands, when the mentor didn't understood them their own?

Not everybody, that is able to to it right, is able to explain it. But someone who isn't able to do it right, will for sure not be able to explain it.

Exaqmple: Lets look at a mentor that is dealing around 500 DPS in i240 and a player is asking how to do better in his DPS job. Do you think that mentor will be able to help this player?

And don't forget: ARR ex primals are part of the mentor roulette. So a mentor should be able to explain these too. Synced.

Most newbies lose their sprouts long before hitting 60. The current mentor system is targeted towards helping players that are really new to the game and filling queues for content outside of raids and current ex primals. As has been said before the most common questions by far in the Novice Network are "How to I unlock mounts" and "Where do I go for "quest, feature, ect" not how to play a class optimally. Mentors are required to have a class from all three roles so they can answer general questions about how to do each role and help newbies make groups for early instances.
An extension of the Mentor system such as Job Mentors which have to demonstrate mastery of a job to qualify would be welcome but it's not the focus of the current system.

I do agree that Mentors should have to do ARR ex primals synced to unlock the roulette though.

[Kosmos992k]

I do agree that Mentors should have to do ARR ex primals synced to unlock the roulette though.

Why are entirely optional fights such as EX trials part of the mentor system at all? Mentoring players is about helping people to learn the game, their class/job and helping people enjoy the game. That includes assisting players through MSQ related content. EX trials don't - IMHO - belong in Mentor Roulette.

[Daemius]

Trying to construct some kind of mentor rating system would immediately be flawed because everyone has their own idea of what mentors should be doing.

When I mentor, I'm quiet unless people explicitly state they are new or need help. This is how I've always played even before the mentor system. If you are new to a run and join and don't say anything, I assume you have watched a video and at least have a cursory knowledge of the content. I never abandon a run even if the players continue to be terrible or don't improve even with advice. I stay till either someone else initiates an abandon vote, the timer runs out, or we pull it off. Mentors can only be as good as the people they're mentoring are. Basic skill and mechanic knowledge is still required.
There's only so many ways I can say "healers stay away from everyone when you have searing wind" and if the healers are still standing with the group during Ifrit EX we're going to continue to wipe. Mentors or no ain't gonna fix that.