Do you think the Mentor system could be fixed by lifting most restrictions to it?

[Vahlnir]

I think that adding a reward to it like the Astrope was a mistake. I also think that the crown symbol was a little much. Should be something like a watering can which would complement the "sprout" status nicely. The requirements to become a mentor are fine though, at least in my opinion.

[TheMightyMollusk]

If anything, mentor status needs more stringent requirements, including oversight from moderators to curb their attitudes. If you're signing up for a symbol that says you're ready to help new players, and instead you're being a dick about it, you should lose the crown at the very least.

[Ultimatecalibur]

I think that adding a reward to it like the Astrope was a mistake.

Astrope isn't really a mistake as it is a solid long term reason to do the Mentor roulette. The problem is more the wide variance in content length and content difficulty in the content within the roulette. You have Guildhests that take 10 minutes at most in a roulette with Extreme trials that can end up timing out an hour later. Due to the gap, dropping out at the start and taking a 30 minute penalty can be considered a time saving measure when you get something that you expect will be nearly an hour of wasted effort. If Guildhests were dropped from the roulette, I suspect there would be fewer Extreme trial drop outs.

[Catwho]

I've been playing since launch. I have over 5000+ comms. Getting to 1500+ should't take that long if you are actively running content and not being a derp about it. Heck, I used to farm comms by tanking guildhests.

Sometimes the easiest way to get comms is to simply be the last one in the group - you'll get one by default from someone who had no one else to give it to!

As for making the requirements higher or lower - I'm not sure that solves the real problem, which is mentors being cruel to new players instead of trying to give helpful advice. I suppose like all things, the best you can do is report them. If the GMs had the ability to remove mentor status from someone who was reported for being horrible in duty content (at the same time as giving them a warning or temp ban), it might keep the most egregious offenders in line.

All that said: Mentors won't know everything. I'd wager that not even the game developers know every tiny little quirk about the game and often have to look something up to verify it when asked. But that's okay. Their real purpose is not to be know-it-alls, it's to answer basic questions about the game mechanics.

[Vyrerus]

For OP: No, that wouldn't help at all, due to some people thinking they have a good grasp on things, but actually having no grasp on things. Which is a problem that's still there now, but it's somewhat contained. Not too mention, there has to be at least some sort of play time consideration, since with no limits on who could mentor, that would be clueless skippers could become one after using their skip, without even actually knowing a job or whatever. No thanks.

As for the tired debate raging in the thread... the issue with mentor roulette and mentorship is pretty much just human nature. Even if the symbol were changed, a lot of people would still seek it for what it implies or means. Mentors would still drop out of things considered wastes of their time, or that they know they just don't have time for, within the mentor roulette, as people do that in other roulettes already. Like, I have a friend that often saves their leveling roulette for just before bedtime. They queue into it. If it's not Ifrit, Titan, or Garuda story mode, they exit and go to bed immediately. Can't really combat that behavior, no matter how hard you try.

[Daeriion_Aeradiir]

If Guildhests were dropped from the roulette, I suspect there would be fewer Extreme trial drop outs.

People drop out of Extreme trials because 95% of the time you get an EX trial, it's basically a forgone conclusion it won't be completeable within the lockout timer, unless its one of the easier EX primals that can be heavily brute-forced through echo + gear (Garuda, Bismark, -maybe- Ravana, Lakshmi.) and even then that's debatable, depending on what level of skill the players you get are. If guildhests were dropped, it wouldn't change anything; people would still drop to save themselves the headache of EX trials, potentially spending an hour and getting literally nothing to show for the time. Even if the total time spent between waiting for lockout, queueing, and then guildhest/dungeon/normal trial was greater than an hour it'd still be worth it, since you'd still have something to show for it.

Before I stopped queueing Mentor Roulette LONG ago, I was 0/7 on the EX trials I got because people didn't want to listen to instruction, repeated the same mistakes again and again, etc. I'd rather bow out and take 30mins to go exercise and stretch than subjugate myself to immense frustration.

[Machka]

Astrope isn't really a mistake as it is a solid long term reason to do the Mentor roulette. The problem is more the wide variance in content length and content difficulty in the content within the roulette. You have Guildhests that take 10 minutes at most in a roulette with Extreme trials that can end up timing out an hour later. Due to the gap, dropping out at the start and taking a 30 minute penalty can be considered a time saving measure when you get something that you expect will be nearly an hour of wasted effort. If Guildhests were dropped from the roulette, I suspect there would be fewer Extreme trial drop outs.

See this is exactly why a reward like Astrope was a mistake though.

The fact you're talking about how there is incentive for dropping from a more difficult duty in hopes of getting an easier/faster duty just shows how the current system is completely backwards and incentivizing the wrong thing.

The point of the mentor system was for experienced, knowledgeable and helpful players to help new players, not to gain a reward for the mentor.
What you're talking about is literally describing how to game a system to most quickly reap the rewards of a mentor and avoid/minimize actually functioning as a mentor.
The incentive for people to game the system is to get Astrope faster/with less effort, and that is why a reward like Astrope was a mistake.

[Machka]

, why do you even need to complete trials and dungeons? It's not like being a mentor means you need to remember everything about every dungeon or trial, it's about mentoring people on becoming better players and doing what you can to answer their questions.

How do you expect to answer their questions if you are unfamiliar with, or even worse have not completed, the content they may have questions about?

Your effectiveness as a mentor absolutely depends on how much you know/remember about every dungeon or trial. If you are a mentor and forgot/are still learning the mechanics and making mistakes, you just wasted a spot that was intended to be filled by someone who could be relied upon to perform well and explain mechanics as needed. Instead of being a reliable source of information and consistency, you'd just be like any other random player from DF.

[Vahlnir]

Astrope isn't really a mistake as it is a solid long term reason to do the Mentor roulette. The problem is more the wide variance in content length and content difficulty in the content within the roulette. You have Guildhests that take 10 minutes at most in a roulette with Extreme trials that can end up timing out an hour later. Due to the gap, dropping out at the start and taking a 30 minute penalty can be considered a time saving measure when you get something that you expect will be nearly an hour of wasted effort. If Guildhests were dropped from the roulette, I suspect there would be fewer Extreme trial drop outs.

I'm of the opinion that the Mentor system shouldn't be about getting rewarded for helping people. It should just be about helping people. A special roulette for Mentors (and the long term goal that most people become a mentor for) were a mistake, period. But that's my opinion and clearly you feel differently.

[ZattanaWen]

I'm of the opinion that the Mentor system shouldn't be about getting rewarded for helping people. It should just be about helping people. A special roulette for Mentors (and the long term goal that most people become a mentor for) were a mistake, period. But that's my opinion and clearly you feel differently.

I think there should be some sort of incentive to mentor, but definitely not such a significant one as an exclusive mount. Something smaller. It shouldn't be such a thankless job.