The Mentoring Requirements... *Rant Style*

[Odett]

Your point is well taken, Odett. None of what you said I disagree with. I have not been against the lvl 60 requirement, in fact I understand the same logic that you see in it's implementation. That being said, the notion that knowledge of endgame mechanics should be necessary for a mentor is simply not true. The idea that the mentor system will be a springboard for future in-game relationships is true, and precisely one of the problems many who are locked out of this system are having a problem with: they will be alienated to a degree at this point. Now, I agree, if someone wants to become a mentor, earn the requirements; I never said otherwise. Certain peoples playstyles, chosen playstyles, may bar them from that, and that's just how it is. I'm not okay with that, but I can't complain about it either, not really, because requirements are needed, and no matter what they are, someone will be locked out of it simply because of how they choose to play, it's unavoidable. What I AM trying to get at is that having the requirements be lvl 50 instead will still have a desired effect in rooting out those who don't understand the role-system: HW mechanics are not required for this. Yes, people might ask questions about current endgame content, but that isn't the purpose of the mentoring system - it's to learn the basics of the MMO genre and how they come into play in FFXIV. Should people who are fully capable of properly teaching such things, who have a desire to help people and have the skill and knowledge to back it up, not be able to do so simply because they haven't spent the money for an expansion?

I mostly agree with you. It's true that some players may experience some level of alienation from this, but it's not like they're banned either from being a mentor should they not meet the requirements from day one. I get that the main point of the mentor system is not to teach endgame, but that still won't stop new people from asking what their job in endgame will be like. Unfortunately, you do need to spend money for the expansion in order to answer such questions, and having a level 60 might make it possible that you'll be able to meet their question with an appropriate answer, whereas only getting to lv 50 will guarantee that your answer will be "I don't know". Again, it's better from a developer's standpoint to make requirements where it is possible for the mentor to answer as many questions as possible in regards to role performance, responsibilities, and toolkits, than to make requirements lax enough to guarantee that some of these questions will go unanswered.