General consensus on mentors

[SpiritMuse]

I still think it's a good idea to change the mentor icon to something less "cool" than a gold crown. Someone suggested a watering can once and I think that would be a perfect complement to the newbie sprout.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

I haven't worn my crown since I got it, mainly because I never needed it to mentor other players and be helpful besides.

I've also noticed a sort of backlash against mentors by regular players (because of the actions of a few bad ones), so I don't wear it as a means of keeping people receptive to any words I might offer. If I'm legitimately trying to help and being patient and kind, I don't need or want to be met with venom purely for being a mentor. Further still, I understand that - in some very rare cases - people need to try and fail in order to REALLY learn what they need to learn. So a certain degree of silent support is necessary.

[MirielleLavandre]

That sounds like they payed to have their character leveled..

That could be, or a bot... but if he had the mentor status he'd have had to pay someone to run Ifrit (or something equally easy) 1000 times to get Dungeon Master and then also get at least 300 comms doing it -- I don't wanna think what someone would charge for that O.O // maybe just someone who was trolling and/or just lazy-bad.

[Kuzonoha]

I've kept my mentor status on since getting it.

I think it's a good opportunity to go against the grain and be a helpful person despite the popular opinion on mentors. I try not to say too much unless someone says it's their first time doing a dungeon or someone is constantly failing a mechanic. I will admit sometimes I just plain remain silent and see if someone can pick up mechanics as they go. Sometimes it's the best way people learn.

I've also had parties where people ask me if they're doing okay and ask about tips. I definitely understand this personally and try to give some solid tips and let them know they're doing good, even if they die, especially if they're trying to improve.

Bottom line is as a mentor I try not to nitpick over certain things or act like I'm above someone. Just because I'm a mentor doesn't mean I've mastered every single mechanic. You don't need a crown over your head to do the job either. What matters above all is that you're willing and able.

[Eloah]

Since they implemented the change to the Novice Network, where mentors can turn their status off, their have been less "bad" mentors. Most of the mentors in the network on my server are great. And a lot of the sprouts feel bad when they have to leave. The biggest gripe i have actully comes from some sprouts. If we tell you how to do something after you asked, why don't you listen. We have so many players say, "can you boot me, i don't want to be in here, or this is an alt" etc. We tell them and they just whine boot me. Like really.

[sarehptar]

I'm one of the people who initially got the mentor crown just because I thought it looked cool and I met the requirements. Oops. However, since I've put it on, I have tried to be more helpful to others. Before turning on the mentor status, I basically never said anything in a dungeon or trial, no matter how poorly others were doing or if it was obvious they were struggling. Now if I'm doing mentor roulettes, I do try to give helpful advice, and I always try to be extremely polite about it, never accusing anyone of playing poorly or anything, and always wording my advice gently (i. e., when healing a tank 15+ item levels below where he should be: "I noticed your gear is a few levels low, have you checked out the vendors near aetherytes around the map?" and such).

But overwhelmingly my experience as a mentor has been negative, and I don't think that's largely because of me. I know unsolicited advice can seem condescending, no matter how nicely it's worded, but 95% of the time, even my completely innocuous comments are met with terrible attitudes from new/sprout players. Something as simple as "Playing with topaz carbuncle out in a dungeon can make it harder on our tank to hold the aggro; would you mind changing to emerald, just for right now?" literally netted me a "I don't f*cking care what you think" once.

There's honestly no way for mentors to win. If they stay silent throughout a run where people are having problems, they get treated like crap for "not being helpful" and just "farming for achievements." If they speak up, they get treated like crap for "offering unneeded advice." What can you even do?

[Nagrom]

Honestly the biggest issue with the mentor program is they set the requirements a tad low. 300 commendations is nothing one couldn't farm guildhests for as either a tank or healer, and leveling 1 class for each role in the trinity is even easier than before with Palace of the Dead. The only real hurdle is the 1,000 dungeon/trial runs, and frankly anyone that actually plays had no trouble hitting that number.

The stigma attached to the crown is simply for every levelheaded mentor you meet, you're going to meet plenty more who have an attitude that is way out of sync with the level of aptitude they display.

All that being said, it's good to want to help other people.

[Eloah]

Maybe we shouls set the requirements to 3000, XD, I'd still qualify. When I got that bird it felt amazing, lol.

[Hen-Hen]

There's honestly no way for mentors to win. If they stay silent throughout a run where people are having problems, they get treated like crap for "not being helpful" and just "farming for achievements." If they speak up, they get treated like crap for "offering unneeded advice." What can you even do?

My feelings are basically this. I once got flak for having a bad attitude after I'd explained the whole of Garuda EX, from start to finish, from memory, which was more than the other mentor in the party could do. I'm very near just dropping being a mentor entirely because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. There aren't enough smileys in the world to make unsolicited advice come across as helpful, and 9 times out of 10 you're going to get ignored anyway, with that last 1 in 10 being told to stick your head in a blender. I barely ever feel appreciated as a mentor, and I doubt that's ever going to change.

[Emerald_Swords]

I've come across very few mentors who actually gave helped out others who weren't familiar with their Class or dungeon/primal.

Completely useless, there should be a rating system in place and have it displayed publicly in the party. Maybe this would weed out the people who don't use the mentor system for good reason.