please consider ending the mentor system

[BillyKaplan]

I do think they should remove the roulette from the Mentor system. Keep the awards and all in tract, just separate them. Then maybe people will realize people bail on this about as often as they do any other roulette if there isn't a crown to tag those players out.

Also @Op, all of those things are reportable offenses and instead of blaming an entire demographic maybe start reporting the rotten apples. Who knows, it might just make a dent.

[Vahlnir]

Mentor system brought two good things.
- Novice Network.
- Duty Roulette: Mentor.

The Novice Network is where you’ll find most new players asking for help or general questions related to the game.
Duty Roulette: Mentor is a filler roulette. Mainly to help with queue times.

If people joining the Mentor system are actually using these two features and understand what they are getting themselves into, it will be great. But sadly most people are doing it for the crown. Not helping in the Novice Network or with Mentor Roulette.

The crown is what brought people to this system who want nothing to do with it other than having a fancy crown above their heads.
Keep the system, remove the crown. And with it you remove the players who don't care about helping others.

I don't queue up for Mentor Roulette every day, but I'd say...maybe 4-5 out of 7. Just yesterday I helped a group clear Shiva Ex in it. Took I think...5 wipes or so, maybe a few more to do it, but it got cleared. The Novice Network is something I haven't had great experiences with, so I haven't joined it in some time. A lot of drama and general toxicity, at least on my server. Could have been cleaned up a bit in the months that I left, but I doubt it. I don't want to remain out of it, but the drama that unfolds...I don't really need to see that.

I'm not an expert in all things, and there are times where I can be downright unhelpful in the roulette...though that stems from not running a certain thing for awhile and forgetting things. But I do my best to help if I'm able. Not all mentors are jerks...they are players just like everyone else, but they are just as capable as being rude as anyone on the planet can. And because of their status, the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.

Ending the mentor system is, imo, a bad idea. But it could use a bit more moderation...especially in the Novice Network.

[Yeol]

I don't queue up for Mentor Roulette every day, but I'd say...maybe 4-5 out of 7. Just yesterday I helped a group clear Shiva Ex in it. Took I think...5 wipes or so, maybe a few more to do it, but it got cleared. The Novice Network is something I haven't had great experiences with, so I haven't joined it in some time. A lot of drama and general toxicity, at least on my server. Could have been cleaned up a bit in the months that I left, but I doubt it. I don't want to remain out of it, but the drama that unfolds...I don't really need to see that.

I'm not an expert in all things, and there are times where I can be downright unhelpful in the roulette...though that stems from not running a certain thing for awhile and forgetting things. But I do my best to help if I'm able. Not all mentors are jerks...they are players just like everyone else, but they are just as capable as being rude as anyone on the planet can. And because of their status, the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.

Ending the mentor system is, imo, a bad idea. But it could use a bit more moderation...especially in the Novice Network.

I never said that you need to be an expert in this game, I've said many times before in other related threads. A mentor is just your average player who is willing to take some of their time to help other players if they are able to. You're doing just that

I do believe that the Novice Network needs to be moderated. At least people can report who they think is not showing good attitude or causing a lot of drama there. These type of people are not a good example for new players and won't be of help to them.

Oh, I know you didn't say that. I was just making my case as a mentor attempting to defend those with good intentions. The mentor feature can be great in the right hands. It can also go horribly wrong in the wrong ones.

No worries I understood what you meant, just wanted to clear things to those who just jump to assumptions ^^"

[Vahlnir]

I never said that you need to be an expert in this game, I've said many times before in other related threads. A mentor is just your average player who is willing to take some of their time to help other players if they are able to. You're doing just that

I do believe that the Novice Network needs to be moderated. At least people can report who they think is not showing good attitude or causing a lot of drama there. These type of people are not a good example for new players and won't be of help to them.

I have a bunch of friends who are new to this game, yet most of them are mentors. And they got called out for doing wrong things by other players many times, even got kicked in multiple occasion. Their response was? "Don't you see this crown above my head? I know what i'm doing" -sigh-

Oh, I know you didn't say that. I was just making my case as a mentor attempting to defend those with good intentions. The mentor feature can be great in the right hands. It can also go horribly wrong in the wrong ones.

[Paladinleeds]

So, I'm eligible to be a mentor, but aren't currently (I often end up feeling I'm not good enough to be a mentor, due to things like communication and issues with frustration management). That being said, I am willing to help out others and give up my time to help them. Now if there was a "Contact a Mentor" type service available to allow you to submit a ticket to a mentor (and make it very visible SE), I could get behind that. I'd love the chance for new players or returners to be able to reach out to me. I can then help them out, and potentially make sure they've got a group to be able to ask for help in the future (so that they don't have to worry about reaching out to a random player as much).

So yeah, I can definitely back the ticketing idea. Perhaps it can be sent to a mentor at random and they can choose to accept or decline it (maybe with a penalty for declining it). This is so those that have to logoff for example aren't lumbered with a ticket they can't deal with at the time. If declined, it passes on to a different mentor at random. I know I would heavily avail myself to assist newbies with such a system. As long as there was a way to do it without that garish crown being visible (except to the newbie I'm helping). I like to be the helper that you don't see at the forefront. Less making a big deal about me, more letting me get on with helping people!

[Rinuko]

Please don't throw us good mentors under the bus cause of a few bad experience with pretend-mentors.

/The good mentors.

[PerrinTaveren]

we did aetherochemical research facility yesterday. i was ilvl 260 bard, my hubby was lv70 whm. we had a paladin who was really really bad. i had to use mp & tp regens always to not get aggro. Even on bosses. Apart from that, we had a mentor who is another bard! So this person didn't use any of her songs during the dungeon, NONE of them. Not even a wanderer's minuet, army's paeon whatever. He constantly lost her dots because he didn't remember to use iron jaws. He was at the last list on aggro list almost always. We are both mentors, me and hubby, but we weren't wearing our crowns because we don't like it outside of mentor roulettes. My problem is, if you are wearing your crown, you HAVE to do at least a decent job you are playingThat bard was lv69 and she had no idea how to play bard. She didn't give any tips to any of us (especially tank, who was struggling), she was really awful at her job and she was wearing that crown. I, imo, wanted to kick her but we didn't because my hubby is more compassionate :P though i don't understand the meaning behind this mentor system around these players. If you suck, if you don't want to help, don't put a crown because it is fancy. It is meant to help people, not your ego. And actually we had quitted using our crowns outside mentor roulettes because whenever we try to help other people (me mostly) i get a huge backlash. I still remember that astrologian who didn't use A SINGLE card in syrcus tower. I had pointed out and i was almost put on fire because i was acting ''elitist''. I just said why play astro if you won't shuffle cards... People are ignorant and don't accept help most of the time. But mentor system is here to help and improve people by those ''who know the basics of every kinda job or dol, doh or pvp'' in the game whatever. So i encourage people not to wear the crown if you suck and unwillingly to help. It is not the system that is bad, it is players imo.

[Kurando]

The game really needs to consider a decay system, so essentially if you don't complete a certain number of duties (mentor roulette maybe), or finish certain content by a specific time then a player will lose their Mentor crown and would need to do whatever is necessary to get it back. One thing is I could just stop playing today and then come back in 1yr, but I would still have my crown despite being behind on mechs of new content and possibly any job changes that occur during that time. I would not expect every mentor to know every single mech, but if you run content regularly then you are in a much better position to assist other players if they need help isn't it.

[Synrin]

Normally when I see someone with a crown I think to myself, woah, what a dumbass. That's the rep it's got, at least on the EU servers. It was a good thought, no doubt, but in practice it doesn't work. It needs a revamp at best and stricter rules for people who do opt to be mentors. Leaver mentors, flaming mentors, mentors who have no idea what they are doing... You name it, I've seen it.

[PerrinTaveren]

I don't think it needs a revamp. The point of the system basically is to help green people. New adventurer status disappears when you hit stormblood. So no one has any obligation to help others. Especially a lv60 person with no new adventurer status, unless they used jump potions. But the system is here for green status people and lv60 mentors have the means to help them. there is no need to update the system to 70 rn. Maybe in 5.0, if they make new adventurer status disappear by the end of sb story. Imo, if you are lv60+ player and don't know how to play, don't accuse mentors for not helping you, accuse yourself. There are many guides on internet and on youtube etc. Mentors are here for new adventurers who needs help with their classes, jobs, understanding the game, understanding crafting & gathering system, how things work etc. They aren't here for giving savage tips or lv 70 rotation tips. I think the system is overrated by playerbase a bit.