Novice Network Feedback for SE

[Meirii]

When I'm in the chat I could never even see any question from newbies because of all the random chat from mentors, the rest of the time the chat is full

[Sailysium]

Just tried out the mentor network over the weekend. Completely agree with most of the OP's suggestions to make, ESPECIALLY #2. As much as I enjoy mentoring others I don't want to do this 100% of the time. Kinda annoying to see auto join notifications flood my chat when I have my mentor status toggled off. >_<"

[Lagarin]

Another idea we had to expand on the mentor system at perhaps a future date is for non sprouts/greenleafs.

Not all novices are new players or those under 40 hours. Some players have been playing the game for a while but are just now picking up a role or just can't get the hang of one and would appreciate having a mentor to guide them. Sure, there are online guides to help them, but some people like having a friend to cheer them on and others learn better through one-on-one in person instruction. Isn't that what our mentors are for?

Perhaps, we could introduce a system that allows senior players to opt-in to be "novice" players in a specific role to seek out a mentor to teach them in that role?

[Lego3400]

Another idea we had to expand on the mentor system at perhaps a future date is for non sprouts/greenleafs.

Not all novices are new players or those under 40 hours. Some players have been playing the game for a while but are just now picking up a role or just can't get the hang of one and would appreciate having a mentor to guide them. Sure, there are online guides to help them, but some people like having a friend to cheer them on and others learn better through one-on-one in person instruction. Isn't that what our mentors are for?

Perhaps, we could introduce a system that allows senior players to opt-in to be "novice" players in a specific role to seek out a mentor to teach them in that role?

Yes yes all of the yes. I'd love this to learn how to heal or tank more effectively. I'm ok at the former and terrible at the latter (in my mind anyways) and would love help and I don't feel like starting an alt just to learn.

[KeairaR]

I would like to see different chat channel for french and german players, atleast on my server (Ragna) I see very much french ppl talking about somthing i have absolutely no clue if they asked help or what they saying.
It would also benefit the new players that don't understand english well so they could ask help without worry of not getting understood or not understanding response.
Also i think leaving chat channel should be option. Simple reasons too much spam(its usually nothing related to game) and going afk for some time (would give room for non afk mentors).
Maybe it would be good make novice chat optional to join as mentor but all mentors would be listed to some kind of mentor list where newbies can pick up who they wanna get help from. Or instead of novice chat being 1 big chat channel it could be kinda like ig ticket system where they throw question and mentors can go and answer to that, once question is answered it would disappear or get some kind of green mark, when there is new questions som kind of notification would pop up.
I'm just throwing out ideas because I think the current mentor system isn't good but the idea of mentors is great

[Mykll]

I was finally able to get in yesterday morning. 100 mentors (of course) to about 15 sprouts. Yes was not during a busier server time, but what I saw, I really enjoyed for the most part. Questions were asked, helpful answers given, without any "No my answer is right even though we said the same things differently". Too bad my internet crapped out, got disconnected from game, so naturally no longer in the channel and full since. But I really enjoyed seeing the interaction. Yay early morning Balmung!

I did say above for the most part. Finally seeing this channel in action, here are some things I do NOT like about it. And I had to go back to the patch notes to verify some things.

Regardless of online status, mentors will always have access to the Novice Network, be eligible to register for Duty Roulette: Mentor, and receive the experience point bonus from grouping with new adventurers.

It seemed like most of the mentors in the channel were AFK. Taking up spots for those that are actively playing and willing to help. To me, it seems like if you are AFK (even if you turn off the AFK option, if you are sitting idly long enough so that you WOULD have gone AFK) then you get kicked from the channel. Maybe after 2 hours of AFK, I dunno. I forget how long the original AFK was set for. Thankfully, the few active mentors answered questions and we had some great convos and interacted with the sprouts. No spam, FC advertisements, selling, trying to over talk each other, etc. Again, it was morning and not a busier time, but I was still proud of Balmung.

* The "New Adventurer" status is applied to all players who have less than 40 hours of play time.

Mentors:
Mentors are automatically added to this channel upon logging in or changing areas.

New Adventurers:
New adventurers must be invited by a mentor.

Your standard level 15 ARC / 50 THM badly named bots flooded into the channel. If it is true that these guys must be invited, and cannot turn down an invitation, then someone keeps inviting these bots into the chat room. Lots of cleanup was done to continually kick these out. But, if all of these invites are being thrown around, it amazed me that the real sprouts playing were up to about level 25-30, and then nothing until level 50 bots.

* The display of the Novice Network chat log can be enabled or disabled via the Log Filters setting under the General tab of Log Window Settings in the Character Configuration interface.
* Beginners will automatically have their chat mode set to Novice Network when they join the channel.

I would be annoyed if I was used to my default channel in any MMO is SAY, and then suddenly that default would keep changing. But I can see it helping a new player if they are not familiar with MMO channels or this specific game's channels.

And everyone needs a better option than to hide the channel. Between all the mentors that are AFK, and just want a crown and achs and have the channel hidden, there is barely any room for active people who are willing to participate to get in. Both Mentors and Sprouts need a way to leave the channel, without removing their Mentor / New Adventure status. And if you leave, mentors have to talk to that NPC again to re-enter Novice Channel (or get invited?). No more auto-joining if you leave on your own. That way you get your crown and achs and no longer take up space.

Removing Players from the Novice Network
In cases of spamming or harassment, a mentor can kick another mentor or a new adventurer from the Novice Network channel. Kicked mentors cannot return for three hours, and kicked new adventurers for thirty minutes. Please be advised that, in doing so, your name, the name of the player being kicked, and the reason will be displayed to everyone on the channel.

This is confusing to me. New Adventurers cannot return for 30 minutes. So if we keep kicking those bots, are they auto-joining the channel again after 30 minutes? Or do they have to be re-invited all over again? Hopefully when bots are confirmed, accounts banned, SE can see who keeps inviting a large number of these bots and ban that account as well. Not one invite, but continuous history of it.


So while I like what I saw for the most part, glad to finally see it in action and used in a positive way, there are some glaring issues that seriously need to be looked at by SE.




Edit: I was able to get today and been in it all day. Lots of good convos, sprouts asking stuff, mentors answering, never saw a single bot today. Good stuff, really proud of Balmung Novice channel.

[zeopower6]

Pretty much, you're stuck in the Novice Network as a New Adventurer even if you get kicked once you're invited. It seems to work like a time out of sorts so your time out is done, you're back in, which is why a lot of bots keep coming back. Though the person who invited them in there first is probably to blame.

On Leviathan, our Novice Network is still pretty nice with the occasional flareups here or there, but it's done more to help than to harm and that's good enough for me!

[Mycow8me]

I read somewhere you can leave novice network as a sprout by getting rid of sprout status (/bstatusoff), ITS PERMANENT. Bots arent going to want to leave though. I dont even invite ppl cause i feel like im bothering them. I still think a linkshell style is a bad idea.

[Lagarin]

One more thing!~

Mentors would like to request a toggle system to allow us to choose if we would like to mentor on any given day, please and thank you very much. Presently, we simply have "you're a mentor, kid." or we can opt-out of being a mentor and have a thirty day penalty, if my sources are correct - which seems harsh - or not be one at all. Mentors are volunteers and, I know this might seem surprising, are quite human. We have bad days. We have other obligations in game. Some days we just don't want to. There's absolutely no reason we should have to be shunted into a queue like cattle and be forced into the Novice Network without choice. Therefore, could be please have a way to selectively choose not to be a mentor on any given day? Of course, there should be restrictions. If a mentor opts not to do their duties more than say - three times out of a week - they should be automatically placed on the thirty day penalty as they clearly are going through too much at that time to be a mentor. That would be very kind of you, our great leaders.

*sips tea*

[Kewitt]

AFK kick is needed if it's hitting max users.
Or max time per game day is needed say 2 hours.

2h is enough time to find someone help them in the roulette.. befriend them and continue to help them without the need for the reward system.