A Mentor System

[Kaela]

This. This is needed. If anything maybe add this into DF and have it a little box that you are wanting to go into a dungeon with a first timer. So you can help teach them ropes of so so dungeon you go in. This would be even more helpful wht the final dungeons in story that people still try to speed run and keep people from enjoying their first time and watch the cutscenes.

[AlrikRouge]

I like this. Already started, too.

I enjoy it. While I'm not going to spend majority of my time doing it, I've logged in specifically to go into PF learning groups or DF Titan HM to teach. Majority, believe it or not, who aren't in the know, are willing to learn.

I'll even push this one step further, too. It'll now be on my player comments in-game. On Cerberus.

[Phenomena]

^
This is the right spirit, honestly. The reason behind having a system like this available is mainly so people that want to help players on a given day can flag themselves appropriately. On the flip side the new players (or simply those that might have some questions) would have a list of all the flagged "mentors" available at a given time and I think it might break down the anxiety of communicating with strangers. This by no means is supposed to be an ego-booster, but I think the number of people that would readily help a stranger on a given day far exceeds the number of players that have questions about the game that would just start a conversation with someone they don't know. My hope is that something like this would break down that wall so newbies feel like there are "approachable" players in the game even though they've never met them before.

[Khavir]

The problem with the FFXI version was it was never actually used how it was meant to, and was just something players set beside their names to inflate their own egos - few, if any, of the many players I met in FFXI who had the 'mentor' icon even knew the meaning of the word.
Although such a system might have some benefit to encouraging players to help new people in ARR, really, I don't see why we need something like that to do that anyway - as current players we should do it regardless - we see a new person needing help, we help them. It's as simple as that.

It's an ideal I've tried to uphold ever since I first started playing in FFXI, that because of all the help people gave me when I started, I made a commitment to myself that when I 'came of age' in the game I would do everything I could to return the favour and help out any new person I found who needed it. And I've carried that ideal into FFXIV as well.

As the line in Answers says, "Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after."

I don't know about that. When I started playing XI in my first or second week I believe. Being completely unaccustomed to MMO's I had managed to get an Elvaan War up to like level 8. I had a mentor just randomly roll up to me teach the in's and out's, explain how to create macros including a /shoot macro with some pebbles, give me an LS and 200k gil. The XI mentor system certainly had it's downsides but it also definitely had it's upsides as well.

[r0ach221]

Sounds great, and I was thinking of that same idea. I'm leveling my crafting and wouldn't mind helping out newer players by donating some of it to them instead of vendoring it, but, you just don't know who will benefit from it. With mentor you can keep in touch with the newer players and they can ask for gear / help and such like that. Search idea for mentors is great also (as well as the punishment for bad "mentors").

PS. Edit your thread so you forego the 1000 character limit.

[Jatoi]

I'd totally be down for that. I like helping people, behavior like that should be encouraged anyway!

[HexWeaver]

I've seen mentor/guide programs like this in other virtual worlds and they never worked the way they were meant to, they always ended up as a sort of VIP badge with these 'VIP' players forming their own 'VIP' cliques, nice idea in theory but the majority of people would abuse the hell out of this.

[Khalette]

Agreed.

I'd love it if they'd allow us to see our mentee's quest log for them, too.

[Khalette]

I've seen mentor/guide programs like this in other virtual worlds and they never worked the way they were meant to, they always ended up as a sort of VIP badge with these 'VIP' players forming their own 'VIP' cliques, nice idea in theory but the majority of people would abuse the hell out of this.

Maybe make it specific to recruit a friend?

[Vandril]

Maybe make it specific to recruit a friend?

This would solve nothing. If someone wants to be a "mentor" bad enough, they'd just recruit themselves.

All in all, I like the idea. I've wanted to see something like this in an MMO for quite some time. Even if it might just end up abused, the good it can do will surely outweigh the bad.