Novice Network Feedback for SE

[Kerwin]

YOSHI P: In regards to the auto-join possibility for beginners, there would be no safeguard against RMT characters joining the Novice Network and due to this we ask that mentors make the decision whether to invite a character or not based on the character’s name.

RMT on Balmung have been in full force using the channel for exp boosts to their bots. You can easily tell their bots with scrambled names & same Thaumaturge level 1 class. They constantly rejoin and they flood the channel.

[Mykll]

RMT on Balmung have been in full force using the channel for exp boosts to their bots. You can easily tell their bots with scrambled names & same Thaumaturge level 1 class. They constantly rejoin and they flood the channel.

Fortunately people can turn off the kick messages when we get rid of them. Unfortunately we don't have a real quick and easy message for reporting said bots through proper channels.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

RMT on Balmung have been in full force using the channel for exp boosts to their bots. You can easily tell their bots with scrambled names & same Thaumaturge level 1 class. They constantly rejoin and they flood the channel.

The only way new adventurers can get in is a mentor inviting them to the channel. So someone in the channels is inviting the bots and they're either someone controlling the bots themselves or a bored troll.

[Umo]

■Adjustments to the requirements to be considered a “New Adventurer”■

We’ve received feedback mentioning that the requirement of having 40 hours of play time or less to be considered a “New Adventurer” is not long enough to have a chance to thoroughly experience the wide breadth of content available in FFXIV. Considering that the first expansion pack is available and that the level cap has been raised to 60, we will be adjusting it so the “New Beginner” status will remain until players complete the main scenario quest “Before the Dawn” and when their play time exceeds 168 hours.

With this change, mentors will be able to support beginners not only up until they reach level 50 and complete the 2.0 main scenario, “The Ultimate Weapon,” but they can continue to offer support on the raising of item levels through the gathering of tomestones and such. This adjustment will be made as soon as possible, without waiting for Patch 3.3.

This is my main issue. I mean, from my point of view, a player with that many hours of gameplay shouldn't be considered a "New Adventurer" anymore; s/he should have already learned the game's core systems and features, even though s/he doesn't know anything about Heavensward. You know, FFXIV is not a completely different game once you reach Ishgard, and there's some social features s/he could use in order to get support at that moment (before, even), such as Free Companies and Linkshells.
I know Duty Roulette: Mentor is in place to help parties struggling to get filled for content somehow obsolete, but there's a (big) difference between offering tips and support for a Black Mage on his/her first steps on party play and telling someone how to manage The Howling Eye (Extreme) (i.e.), even though s/he's playing that content for the first time.

[Niwashi]

■ Adjustments to the requirements to be considered a “New Adventurer”

We’ve received feedback mentioning that the requirement of having 40 hours of play time or less to be considered a “New Adventurer” is not long enough to have a chance to thoroughly experience the wide breadth of content available in FFXIV. Considering that the first expansion pack is available and that the level cap has been raised to 60, we will be adjusting it so the “New Beginner” status will remain until players complete the main scenario quest “Before the Dawn” and when their play time exceeds 168 hours.

This seems to be completely destroying the entire concept of being about helping newcomers, which was the whole point of the feature. If you're going to have it be a Novice Network, then keep it focused on those just starting out in the game, like it is now. (It needs a lot of other fixes, but that's not one of them.)

If instead, you simply want a generalized help for whoever needs it, then get rid of all the rule overhead and simply make a general /Advice channel that's open to everyone to both give and ask for help, with nobody specifically designated as mentors or novices.

Conflating these two goals just turns it into a chaotic mess, with rules that have no pertinence to the content involved.

[spellsnare]

well that a pretty good news if yoshi-p monitor that because sometime i heard my friend he a mentor (not me) the mentor chat is a real mess sometime and some player tend to use it as a general chat and spoil sometime and they not help new player in this case. And i didn't know japenese player have a huge difference wicth us

[ErzaScar]

umm. mentors can leave on tier own. just have to talk to Smith and remove mentor status.

but yes REALY need a way for leafs to b able to leave. at the VERY LEAST the ability for them to say "NO" to joining.
people have just been inviting all green leafs in player search when 10 or so are just alts that dont want to be there and 30 are RMTs sending tells or doin /say advertising (stop inviting the dam lv1s)

[SuperZay]

umm. mentors can leave on tier own. just have to talk to Smith and remove mentor status.

Aren't you getting a 30 day mentor penalty when doing this? I don't want to participate in Novice network all the time but I still want to do Mentor Rouletes, and removing Mentor status removes both options.

[Mykll]

Aren't you getting a 30 day mentor penalty when doing this? I don't want to participate in Novice network all the time but I still want to do Mentor Rouletes, and removing Mentor status removes both options.

Yep 30 days. Don't want to mentor for 1 day? Don't want to be in NN one day, but want to open up a slot for someone willing to? Take that 30 day hit. No thanks. Thankfully SE is looking into this.

In regards to the auto-join possibility for beginners, there would be no safeguard against RMT characters joining the Novice Network and due to this we ask that mentors make the decision whether to invite a character or not based on the character’s name.

Yeah no win really. Make it easier for New Adventurers, make it easier for RMT/Bots to join in.

Just throwing this out there. Make it an optional side quest. No reason why the bots anyway would waste their time, they too busy getting their THM/ARC/BLM on. The side quest lets you run to a couple of NPCs (even level 1 optional quest) where it explains Mentor, explains New Adventurer, even if briefly, and at the end of the quest you get a little pop-up asking to put you into the Novice Network. Optional side quest as in not required for main story or anything of the sort, but required to get into the NN.

I dunno, just throwing something out there.

[Genaxx]

Thanks for the update Zhexos, i'll edit the first post with the new info tomorrow when I have more time.

Regarding the Invitation to the Novice Network could the active help be used for the first time a beginner is sent an invite? Giving a brief description to what the network is and giving them the option whether to join or not.

As for the hassle of invites for beginners some possible systems could be;
- If a beginner declines an invite they cannot be invited again until x amount of time has passed.

- If a beginner declines an invite they cannot be invited again, however they can choose to join the network by speaking to the relavent npc.

A benefit of the beginner having to accept the invite is that RMT's cannot be automatically added.