Stricter requirements for Mentors.

[Jeeqbit]

My argument is that somebody who does not participate in Endgame Activities is arguably, not suitable to be 'Mentoring' new players, and is most likely going to give out false information.

Most of the questions they are answering in the novice network are things like "where do I find a repair NPC?", "where can I buy gysahl greens?", "when do I get my first mount?", "how do I get a flying mount?", "how do I know when I'm in Heavensward?". These kinds of questions, that are the vast majority of questions, don't require someone to do extremes.

My argument against this is that there is more to the game than extreme and savage and that mentors should reflect a diverse range of activities in the game. And they do! Because of the fact the status does not require extreme and savage.

Trade Mentor:
1. Completion of all current Gathering Nodes and Crafting Recipes per patch release (Yes, that means Expert crafting and Timed nodes too!)

This needs to be much harder to get, because sprouts get it regularly. I'm not saying they should have to do the crafter version of extreme and savage, but what they do should be evidence of having played for a long time. An average battle mentor has played a lot for at least 1 year, while a lot of trade mentors are sprouts just wanting to stay in the Novice Network.

1. Completion of all current Extreme Trials per patch basis. (Yes, you lose your crown until you complete the latest trial on extreme)

2. Completion of at least ONE current Raid Tier on Savage as of the X.1 Patch of an expansion. (Your previous crown will last until the release of the first raid in the expansion).

Mentors who only do extreme and savage have often just tried to tell sprouts who are still in Sastasha how to do a level 90 rotation. It's out of touch and overwhelms them when they want to know about their rotation at level 15. This comes more from raidlog trade mentors who just do extreme and savage and that's why trade mentor needs to be better.

[Tiramu]

That's too much. The tradeskill ones are just unnecessary grind and a strong emphasis on high end content isn't going to be helpful either. Sprouts don't need help outside of what any other player might need with endgame high end content, maybe ARR and HW Ex's but thats about it.

If you want to increase the quality of mentors, then I think the best way to do it is to:

1. Remove the mount reward and change it to something that isn't as likely to attract people who just want the reward but not the role
2. Change the mentor icon so it's not a crown
3. Maybe alter the system so that players become provisional mentors and need to actively help players who then upvote the help they receive until they become a proper mentor.

Heck, I think a better system would be to allow anyone to enter the Novice Network, moderate it a little better, and players become mentors through helping newbies through that and getting recommendations. Then they can apply to become a mentor proper.

[Jeeqbit]

Oh and Dixie, before you start setting 'qualifications", Ill just draw your attention to the merits..or lack thereof..of CURRENT NA mentors who, when asked a question, responded with "Google it". If THAT is the calibre of your current mentors,[I] then you got MUCH bigger problems.

Again, I think this is more often trade mentors who often don't have enough experience to be acting as a battle mentor. They often google answers because they don't know them themselves, or quote the balance word-for-word instead of using their own knowledge and experience.

I agree with you that Google is not the answer, because it often comes up with conflicting, outdated or confusing answers. They might not be confusing to those of us who understand the game and all of the acronyms, but to a new player, they don't know which result to click or what to trust, or the answers are filled with acronyms and references they don't yet understand.

When we talk to a new player we do have to explain what an FC is, what DF is, what PF means and remember that from their perspective, they probably don't know what all these things are.

[FireMage]

FF 14 isnt raid centric

I mean, it is. The balance is based around high end content and the game dies without it

[LianaThorne]

Why do people keep suggesting ideas lately that will only suit to pad the pockets of run sellers? Making savage or even extreme a requirement won't push out better mentors, it will just make people resort to drastic measures to keep it.

The only real way to sort out the people just doing it for the perks are to remove the perks (i.e. the mount & crown) and see who stays.

[VelKallor]

I mean, it is. The balance is based around high end content and the game dies without it

[LianaThorne]

As long as mods and venues/roleplaying/ERP exists, the game isnt going anywhere. There's a much bigger audience for that side of the game compared to raiding. I can understand it ruining the experience for those who raid and cause them to leave but yeah...definitely won't kill the game.

As someone who does engage with harder content, them removing it personally wouldn't cause me to leave though as I have eggs in more than just one basket.

[FireMage]

Death of the game is funny to you? Tell me, t-cup, what keeps people occupied during the content droughts?

[LianaThorne]

Death of the game is funny to you? Tell me, t-cup, what keeps people occupied during the content droughts?

Raiding being removed wouldn't kill the game, it would just hurt the experience for those who are here to raid. The only thing that will actually flat out kill the game is Square deciding one day to go nuclear and stop supporting the game (or maybe NFTs but that's a whole other story).

Even if raiding was removed....those that play for the story, DoH/DoL, gil making, role-playing/venues, modding/custom content, housing, achievement hunting, pvp, FCs/FC related events etc. would still be here. It's only one facet of the game, not the entire game.

[Kranel_San]

My argument is that somebody who does not participate in Endgame Activities is arguably, not suitable to be 'Mentoring' new players, and is most likely going to give out false information.

To become a mentor, and to help newer players grow into better players overall, you should at least have a clear understanding of the combat or crafting side of the game.

Some basic ideas below, to make becoming and keeping a mentor status more strict.

Trade Mentor:
1. Completion of all current Gathering Nodes and Crafting Recipes per patch release (Yes, that means Expert crafting and Timed nodes too!)


Battle Mentor:
1. Completion of all current Extreme Trials per patch basis. (Yes, you lose your crown until you complete the latest trial on extreme)

2. Completion of at least ONE current Raid Tier on Savage as of the X.1 Patch of an expansion. (Your previous crown will last until the release of the first raid in the expansion).

3. 100 PvP Victories in Crystaline Conflict

Full Mentor:
1. All of the Above.

2. No prior warnings/actions taken against their square enix account by support.

Having much stricter requirements will easily weed out the Mentors that only have the crown as a collectable item, and clean up things like Expert Roulette for newer players, having only mentors that actually know what they are doing, playing in those activities.

Sounds more like a hardcore mentor than anything else.
I don't have to collect every recipe and cleared every gathering node to actually be able to answer sprouts questions like: "How to gather?" and "What are legendary nodes?"
The same applies to the rest. You're not promoting mentorship. You're promoting elitism.