Novice Network Feedback for SE

[Aaliyahrose]

If the channel is being spammed so much, there needs to be a filter in place for how many seconds you post another response into the channel.
Also, should color coordinate who the mentor and the novices are besides just a sprout or a crown next to the name.

[RyuRoots]

I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I think that it should be a choice whether to join the novice channel for a new adventurer. Firstly, it would prevent most RMT bots being added even if someone tried to add one or misclicked and ended up doing so. Secondly, it's confusing and annoying to wind up automatically having your chat channel switched to something you didn't ask for, with no warning. Thirdly, not an enormous percentage I'm certain, but many players DO have alts and don't want or need to be novices in the mentor system. That there's no clear instruction for how to temporarily opt out of it is another enormous, related problem. I was able to quit on my alt (because I was invited on her with no warning whatsoever and didn't want in) by turning that character's beginner status off but I didn't even know I COULD do that until a friend told me so. Information for this on the novice side is inexplicably lacking.

[WinterLuna]

I made a new thread and was redirected here by a player. All I see in the Novice channel is spam. I've actually not seen one new person receive help. In fact, people have asked to leave the channel because it's full of mentors talking about random, unrelated content. This is doing more harm than good to new players. Something needs to be done ASAP.

It's not just annoying for the new players, but I also don't want to see random chat in the Novice channel. That's not its intended use. Anyone who mentioned the spam or asked for it to be toned down just caused an argument, with players telling them to just filter the Novice chat. This isn't fair on both Mentors and new players.

[Judah_Brandt]

On Jenova the Novice channel is seemingly working as intended. Sometimes it gets off-topic but overall we reign ourselves in and point out when people are doing something we don't think belongs in the channel, such as FC self-promotion. Other than basic tact, we've helped out a number of new players and had a few who politely didn't want to be a part of the system. Not quite sure if it's just a player quality issue or what but as I said it's operating well thus far.

[yexie]

On Jenova the Novice channel is seemingly working as intended. Sometimes it gets off-topic but overall we reign ourselves in and point out when people are doing something we don't think belongs in the channel, such as FC self-promotion. Other than basic tact, we've helped out a number of new players and had a few who politely didn't want to be a part of the system. Not quite sure if it's just a player quality issue or what but as I said it's operating well thus far.

I can say the same about Siren. It's working as intended and it's actually a pleasure to watch, the sprouts seem to like it too. If it goes off topic (like hunts being called out) we simply discuss if it's ok or not. Even at times when I felt it was a bit too busy (while I'm in pvp wanting to see the call outs in alliance chat), when I looked it was no crazy spam but rather mentors talking with sprouts about parts of the game and that has to be ok.

I never really had many bad experiences with rudeness in the game to begin with, but after a little break that I took I feel like people have become even nicer now.

[WinterLuna]

100 mentors is way too many to begin with. There's always around 5-10 new members whenever I am in the channel, paired with 100 mentors.

I also think the requirements to be a mentor should be harder to obtain. Not just by levels, but by other means. I've seen too many rude, inexperienced and unwilling players with the crown next to their name, abusing both the chat and Mentor Roulette.

[Lmcgyver]

Many mentors in the Cerberus network (not sure about others, as I am only on Cerberus) are just using the novice chat as a global chat channel... it's honestly getting to the point where I am considering filtering it out (something I really don't want to do), just so my chat isn't constantly flooded by random banter that I have absolutely no interest in from people I don't know... and I can imagine that many newbies feel the same way.

I filed a report with a GM, asking about whether or not random chit-chat was allowed in the channel, and basically got "Sorry to hear the novice chat channel didn't turn out as you expected. We cannot force players not to talk about random stuff, so we can't do anything" (summarized, because I can't copy/paste it). Definite rules should be set and enforced about what can and cannot be said in the chat. There's many ways for people to communicate (linkshells are a prime example) - it's not like restricting the novice chat (which is supposedly intended purely for helping new players, and should be used as such) is going to stop people from being able to talk to each other.

[Atoli]

Our newbies actually apprechiated the socializing in the novice chat
Of course this discussion came up more than once on Ragnarok too, and so far I've just been quietly observing the various opinions on this topic.

Personally, I don't see much fault in further talk (as long as it's still within the rules of FFXIV in general..had to kick someone already who was spamming his sexy time texts there..>.>) if the primary function is still to help newbies. I'm not on Cerberus, so I don't know how bad Luna's experience was since she said not one newbie was helped there, but at least on my server, every single newbie was showered with attention and help from answers to dungeon runs to equipment gifts and so on, to the point where I actually had some of them complain about that in private talk ("it's a bit overbearing, sometimes I just want to do things by myself").
But sometimes mentors have questions too, especially after a big patch where everything is new and many don't know what is right or wrong anymore. People got so much shit for asking if vit or str is the way to go as a tank, even through the stat balance was as new to them as to any newbie. We also had several newbies defend the socializing mentors, saying they feel like part of the community right away like this instead of the complete silence they have to live with for most of the early levels until they end up in their first FC or LS around lvl 30+.
Maybe someone really shy might not ask anything, but I guess anyone who dares to join a legacy server is really bold..?

What I'm saying is basically: the chat has been helpful to many, not just newbies so far. Most of the newbies feel at home, every single help request has been met with overwhelming support, and the bit of extra talk had no negative influence on any of that. The biggest negative "impact" it had was on other mentors who felt that the chat became too distracting for raids, but that could be fixed by moving the novice channel into an extra chat tab during raids.

Fact is - the need for a global chat channel is there. If SE gave us one, the novice chat wouldn't get abused at all and those who do not care about global conversations could just turn it off completely without missing out on anything; while everyone who enjoyed it a little too much in the novice channel would have a place to talk at without bending the definitions of the novice channel.
Of course, SE would need to crack down harder on RMT spammers if they integrated that..

[Morzy]

I agree that we should not just assume the novices dont wanna socialize and that just cause we see it as bad doesnt mean they are thinking the same.

Think about it. They wont be in there forever. If they could jump in social conversations they might be more inclined to make friends.

And after all can you seriously sit here and tell me that being social isnt part of this game, especially in a chat that CONNECTS us veterans to new players.

It should be our duty as representatives of the community and player edequite to give them the friendly supportive atmosphear, not some strict Q&A hotline.

[Derceto]

Another feature added to this game with barely enough foresight invested to even call it foresight. How they didn't see these problems coming from a 1000 miles away is beyond me.