Quote Originally Posted by Mhaeric View Post
I don't get this assumption that mentors are supposed to be the best of the best, infallible and never be the ones to ask questions. That's just as hyperbolic as a blanket claim that mentors are all worthless and toxic. In any game I've ever played, the mentor system is designed around mentors just being players with a basic working knowledge of the game and beng willing to help out other players. As a result you're going to get mentors running the gamut from people with extensive knowledge of the game to those with a more social "welcome to the game! lets have fun and learn stuff together!" type. All are equally valid and welcome.

I aslo don't get the assumption that novice network is supposed to only be used only for answering direct questions from novices. It's definitely a major purpose of it, sure, but there's also nothing wrong on its own with people chatting in the novice network. If anything, this makes the game seem more active for a truly new player who is probably spending a lot of time in older zones with less people physically around them. Mentors are also just players, so they're going to interact just as any player would both positively and negatively (e.g. spoiling the story or trolling.) There are tools for dealing with the negative player interactions within the novice network just like for those outside of it. E.g. you can mute the novice network temporarily, leave the network entirely, report misuse of the novice network kick if you feel it was unwarranted, etc.

Side note: The OP made it seem like sprouts automatically get put into the novice network without a choice. Did that change recently? It used to be that you had to be invited by a mentor and accept the invitation to gain access, presumably to avoid it from turning into a RMT chat network.
You’re right about the automatic thing, I forgot about the invite. But most new people aren’t going to say no.

Also sorry but disagree on the rest of it. There are lots of avenues for you to chat. The novice network is to help novices and honestly would be better without mentors in general. Often it’s returners and novices who are the most helpful people, interrupting the mentors chat about ilvl and computer specs in my experience.