Mentor Requirements

[Lanadra]

The biggest flaw with this thread is the assumption that playing this game more will equate to people having better personalities. That simply isn't the case. You hit 80. You played a bunch of dungeons/trails to get the coms you did (hell you could cut the com requirement into a 4th of what it is). You know how to play. You have all the requirements of knowing how to help.

Nothing about adding more to any of this will make someone a better, more relatable person. If anything suggesting to increase it probably adds more to the toxic elitism attitudes that are creating most of the issues in the first place.

I'm trying to watch how often I compare FFXIV to FFXI but the FFXI mentor system had almost zero requirements and worked well. Heck people would bend over backwards to help out without it. You can't get mentors to spend 2 seconds to type an answer on FFXIV, but mentors in FFXI would spend 2 hours helping you farm something, easily. And that example isn't me being selective on rare examples, both are regular occurrences on their corresponding games. Your issue here is community based, not requirement based.

I agree entirely. All the issues that seem to circle the mentor system in FFXIV are community/personality issues. Dickheads will be dickheads whether they have a crown or not. There's no higher ceiling that's going to resolve such.

I am working on becoming a mentor right now because sometimes I like to help people by answering their questions. Even as a returner I would help. I don't often know the answers myself but will google it for people. Plus when I was a returner it was fun having the Novice Network to talk to and ask questions to.

I never experienced any toxicity in the Novice Network-- it's probably the most positive chat experience I've ever had in an MMO in what's basically a general chat channel. Since most of my friends from when I played before were gone, having the Novice Network to talk to and see chat was a way to feel welcomed back to the game. If you don't like the group chat you can just leave, I'm not sure why it would need to be removed.

I don't think it needs to be more restrictive. In fact making it less restrictive might make it less of a status symbol and then only people who want to help others would sign up.

And that I'd say is the right attitude to have. I'd also be inclined to say you don't need a crown to do what you're already doing, but I can see the use of it as a 'look here I can help you!' badge.. probably what it was originally intended to be.

I'd also say the general experience one might have with the mentor/novice network system would very much depend on not only world but datacenter as well. I've seen people in this thread speak of toxic cesspools, and seen people (like you) describe novice network as a helpful and welcoming place.

[Wasselin]

I agree entirely. All the issues that seem to circle the mentor system in FFXIV are community/personality issues. Dickheads will be dickheads whether they have a crown or not. There's no higher ceiling that's going to resolve such.



And that I'd say is the right attitude to have. I'd also be inclined to say you don't need a crown to do what you're already doing, but I can see the use of it as a 'look here I can help you!' badge.. probably what it was originally intended to be.

I'd also say the general experience one might have with the mentor/novice network system would very much depend on not only world but datacenter as well. I've seen people in this thread speak of toxic cesspools, and seen people (like you) describe novice network as a helpful and welcoming place.

Well I need to be a mentor to access the Novice Network chat channel right? That's where I was answering questions (as a returner). Although maybe it happens, I doubt people whisper mentors. That feels a little bit harder to whisper some stranger, even if they have a mentor badge, than just putting a question out there in a general chat channel, where anyone can answer it. It's also less efficient because you don't know if that one person will answer you, where as in a general chat channel someone probably will.

I like the watering can idea, although the icon is so small it might be hard to make it legible. It wouldn't be a big change, but it might make it a little bit less charged.

If the Novice Network really is toxic, than isn't chat moderation the answer? It's hard to think of requirements they could put in place that would ensure people aren't toxic.