The novice network needs reworked, and a way to rate mentors!

[Ilan]

The NN is only usefull if you level a different character when you are bored while leveling and you need something to laugh about. Sadly most of the mentors are completly useless and don't even know what they are doing.

A rating system would be a good start but i don't think SE will change anything about that.

[LunaFaye]

The NN is only usefull if you level a different character when you are bored while leveling and you need something to laugh about. Sadly most of the mentors are completly useless and don't even know what they are doing. A rating system would be a good start but i don't think SE will change anything about that.

I second that, I was so happy that I met all requirements the moment the system got released. I've been helping out new players not only in the FC's I've been in prior, but also randomly when entering cities etc. I thought that this would be a really good idea, having seen it work in multiple different games and always a good starting point for beginners.

I rage quit after 5 hours, not going to lie about it and maybe other servers are different, but none of the mentors knew what they were doing, knew how to run content or the mechanics of the content. Some of them I even recognized, because it was my friends and I, that sold them the primal and raid clears needed. In fact some of them sat in this chat talking like they had it on farm, when in reality these people couldn't keep themselves alive for 40 seconds during the sale runs. And yes I know, when selling content, mostly pug dies right at the start, however in some content we rather keep them alive due to the mechanics errors that can occur, when dead.

So anyways, others were talking about their dinner and what they would do over the weekend, completely ignoring the sprouts. I felt sorry not only for the new comers, but also for the veterans that actually knew how to play the game, and were willing to help, but got kicked and shouted at by the worst mentors/players. To bad it didn't work out, but I guess a revamp of the system, unless you make extreme high requirements wouldn't make a change.

@OP hope you find some people that are willing to explain things to you, or run some content with you, most of us don't need a badge or icon infront/above their names, nor a channel. In fact most of us don't even like to have the title on. The majority of this community is not like the novice channel wants to make it look like, social wise at least. Sadly skill wise every month it gets worse and worse, nearly matching the bad mentor skills, but that's a story for another day lol. GL

[Keydah]

I would love a way to rate Mentors. Granted, I'm guessing as a Mentor myself it wouldn't be something I would do, but I've seen a lot of bad mentors. From ones who berate people in instances, to ones who use Novice Network as their personal linkshell/diary and don't think before they speak resulting in saying "yeah everyone's glad s/he's <status>" about a story NPC, or who are blatantly wrong on a regular basis.

I've mostly given up trying to bother with NN anymore, even though I love helping sprouts & returners and contributing to discussions that aid or teach them. Every time I turn it on now, it's some random discussion between two or three mentors that just floods my chat, or linking their relic weapons, or asking for people for bird farms. If we could rate mentors, then hopefully they'd be rated low enough to not be allowed to be Mentors or something.

I think the best possible thing that could happen for NN is it being required to be a no-nonsense chat. Answer questions, help out with instances sprouts/returners need run, discuss the pros/cons of Role Actions (with sprouts/returners) but don't chatter about your furnishing choices... And have Mentorship be something you have to apply for, and can have actually taken away if abused or not used, along with the icon being changed to something less appealing like a tree or an apple or anything other than a fancy crown.

[Nadiak]

I have returned to FFXIV after a long period of absence. When I last played the game (which was a month or so after Havensward launched) I found the Mentors to be knowledgeable, helpful and more importantly people you can look up to and aspire to be like. Yes the Novice Network chat did get filled at times with stuff related to high level content but as soon as a sprout asked something the general chatter amongst the mentors stopped and they gave a proper response to the question.

I re-joined FFXIV on October 14th and left the Novice Network a few hours after joining it as sadly I found it to be a most unhelpful place where some were ridiculed for daring to ask questions deemed to be basic and they should use google instead. This is very unfair on those Mentors who continue to try and help people as they get tainted through no fault of their own.

I agree that a rating system is needed but sadly I can also see that it could be abused greatly. Now I am not sure how the mentor duty bonus thing works but how about a pop-up at the end of the duty which FORCES players to respond to "Did you find xxxxxx helpful in their role as a mentor?". The more positive responses that the Mentor gets then they get more of a bonus - if they get all negatives then they get no bonus at all. Of course the chances of anything being implemented are virtually nothing as resources can be better used elsewhere.

[Jas710]

The NN mentor system is what happens when all of you bitch and whine in a long "tales of the duty finder" thread, prompting the devs to feel like they need to do something about it. To which they poorly implement, which leads to more complaining. So thanks a lot, you "great community".

[Ilan]

The NN mentor system is what happens when all of you bitch and whine in a long "tales of the duty finder" thread, prompting the devs to feel like they need to do something about it. To which they poorly implement, which leads to more complaining. So thanks a lot, you "great community".

So you blame people who complain about these "you don't pay my sub" players that we have this mentor system? Good joke.

[Frizze]

The NN mentor system is what happens when all of you bitch and whine in a long "tales of the duty finder" thread, prompting the devs to feel like they need to do something about it. To which they poorly implement, which leads to more complaining. So thanks a lot, you "great community".

So it sounds like youre saying the mentor system(which most people agree needs improvement) is what we get when we voice concerns and the devs poorly implement a solution to a problem(which definitely exists, though the scope of it could be debated). Which is then our fault because we suck?

And really, have you read any of that Tales thread? The most recent few hundred pages consist of people sharing stories of runs(good, bad and head scratching), blowing off steam, and encouraging each other/giving advice. Sharing your pain/joy/confusion with the community isnt automatically a bad thing. It can be good for a laugh to read someones story of grouping with a bard that only did single target attacks on aoe pulls and aoe attacks on bosses, or a scholar who forgot to summon their fairy then complained after a wipe that the group was too hard to heal. And reading some of the stories about people going out of their way to help and advise each other can help remind you that not only are there people behind those other avatars, but a lot of them are nice people who just want everything to go well.

[Jenarie]

I've heard of this channel in game but I don't know how to get into it. There are a lot of things I've had trouble figuring out since returning to game a few days ago and it would have been nice to be able to ask. It seems to me that needing an invite to it is a bit hard on the true newbie who doesn't know anyone yet. People who know someone who can invite them already have a resource but the people who need help the most are left in the dark... not understanding the logic of that rule.

[silverlunarfox]

I was in the NN for a while as a Mentor. I left when the Mentors would do nothing but talk about high end content and/or spoilers. That's not mentoring. Newbies would be lost in the shuffle.

It was a fantastic idea, but the fact anyone can be a Mentor leaves a giant problem of moderation.

I love helping newbies and still do whenever I can, just not in NN which is a shame. But I keep my crown on and hope some newbies will approach with questions. Some do. That's all I can hope for.

[EveK]

To join, ensure your "new adventurer" status is on and ask any mentor to invite you. You can perform a player search to get a list of mentors to contact one. It's designed this way to prevent real money trade bots from flooding the channel with advertisements.