[Opinion] The Current State of the Novice Network

[Kiegen]

It's a real shame. The player in question blurred out in the screenshot - who I won't mention due to rules against naming and shaming - has repeatedly driven new players out of the Novice Network because they insist on treating it like their own personal chat channel.

Some chatter is fine, don't get me wrong - but some people lack a filter and get angry the moment somebody asks them to quieten down a little or focus on more useful conversations/answers to queries.

Which is the main reason why I think a few rules in place wouldn't hurt anyone.

It would give the helpful mentors some much needed assistance in keeping the NN focused on useful conversations related to the game and avoid the stuff like "Watch me eat pizza, I'm so random xD XD XD"

The rules don't have to be strict either. It could be something as simple as "All conversations must be relevant to the game." and "No spoilers."

[ValarianHeartbreaker]

Right now, it's either mindless drivel like in the first post, sprouts asking questions to which the answer is "Do the main story" 95% of the time, or mistells in the wrong channel.

Not to mention "Mentors" giving bad advice...

Yeah, I'd say the intention was nice, but once again SE has overestimated the maturity and intelligence of its player base. I know I sound harsh, but that's what I've seen,

[Theodric]

Which is the main reason why I think a few rules in place wouldn't hurt anyone.

It would give the helpful mentors some much needed assistance in keeping the NN focused on useful conversations related to the game and avoid the stuff like "Watch me eat pizza, I'm so random xD XD XD"

The rules don't have to be strict either. It could be something as simple as "All conversations must be relevant to the game." and "No spoilers."

Oh, definitely. They've already implemented the system so building on it moving forward would be beneficial. Especially if they plan to go ahead with the touted 'jump potion' they've mentioned. If they do then there's going to be even more new players in need of asking questions. Another issue is that certain features appear to be built based around the attitudes of the Japanese community whilst they tend to play out very differently in Europe/America.

[Kiegen]

Oh, definitely. They've already implemented the system so building on it moving forward would be beneficial. Especially if they plan to go ahead with the touted 'jump potion' they've mentioned. If they do then there's going to be even more new players in need of asking questions. Another issue is that certain features appear to be built based around the attitudes of the Japanese community whilst they tend to play out very differently in Europe/America.

Hopefully changes come with Stormblood then. If it doesn't happen by then I can't see NN being used as anything other than a glorified chat room in the future.

[Deepified]

I agree with OP on this one, maybe not keep the network strictly on Q&A and discussion, but answering Sprout questions should definitely be the main focus. I'm not personally on Balmung, but I've got a few friends who have been for the longest time (I'm on EU data centers) and they also have concerns regarding the Novice Network, particularly regarding some Mentors' off-topic dominance within them. I've been hearing about people politely asking off-topic posts to stop only to be told to "deal with it," and a lot of questions just being glossed over within the network since people either don't pay attention to it or simply quit it, due solely to spam.

Basically:
It's okay to have some off-topic conversations, but as soon as a legitimate question pops up, it should all stop until that question is dealt with. The network shouldn't be used in a way that spams anyone's chatbox. If someone requests that someone takes it easier with their posts, it should be heard.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

GMs need to start monitoring the Novice Network and the devs should implement the same right click report feature so we can clear out these idiots who clog up the chat with their "omfg, i'm so random kwai!" Until they do, it will continue to be a complete cesspool.

Another feature I would add is sprout status makes your questions automatically highlighted, similar to how Youtube highlights the name of the channel owner now if they post comments. Could this be abused? Absolutely, but with proper moderation, it wouldn't be a long term issue.

[Lyraele]

I got a drive-by invite to NN that the dropped me into that chat channel. And man, it was not useful. It really seemed like my fellow sprouts were just... vile... and had no restraint whatsoever. I never asked to be in it, and then I discovered there's no good way to leave it (that I could find, anyway). So I eventually figured out how to mute the channel and the last annoyance to it is it comes up as the default channel to type into until I type "/fc" once. Which is annoying, but livable. The whole "invite" that you have no opportunity to decline is some serious deign fail, IMO.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

To leave it : /nastatus off

That turns your sprout off, which prevents a mentor from re-inviting you in his randomly timed sprout searches.

Of course, should you desire a return, /nastatus on brings the sprout back. I am not sure if that automatically brings you back to the NN or if it takes another mentor invitation.

[BunnyChain]

Balmung is why we can't have nice things.

Jokes aside, it used to be a lot worse in the beginning but now that the attention wh- seeking personalities left / are inactive it got a lot more bearable.
Speaking only for Ragnarok; mostly you'll get either sprouts spamming, mentors using it as a personal chat channel and or giving uneducated 'advice' or my favourite, playing the righteous and kicking each other for whatever rules they just made up.

[Kiegen]

GMs need to start monitoring the Novice Network and the devs should implement the same right click report feature so we can clear out these idiots who clog up the chat with their "omfg, i'm so random kwai!" Until they do, it will continue to be a complete cesspool.

Another feature I would add is sprout status makes your questions automatically highlighted, similar to how Youtube highlights the name of the channel owner now if they post comments. Could this be abused? Absolutely, but with proper moderation, it wouldn't be a long term issue.

I like that idea. It could be something that you could activate by typing a command like /nnquestion so only that line would be highlighted.