Mentors...please!

[giwaman]

The only mentors I'll have faith are The Balance Discord Mentors, other than that it's a hit and miss between a troll u find or genuine help lol.

[Iscah]

So far the Hall of Novice is too useless to even exist.

I'm on Elemental with alts across several servers (though only a few are in NN), and generally it just doesn't have conversation at all. Typhoon is silent, Aegis is chatty but 99% Japanese so I have no idea what they're discussing. Tonberry is the only other world I've seen conversation while visiting.

[Crescence]

I'm on Elemental with alts across several servers (though only a few are in NN), and generally it just doesn't have conversation at all. Typhoon is silent, Aegis is chatty but 99% Japanese so I have no idea what they're discussing. Tonberry is the only other world I've seen conversation while visiting.

Atomos is pretty chatty, from time to time beginners ask for ppl to come with them to certain contents and most of the time ppl would join. Problem is, the people who are actively helping beginners in the chat are actually not people doing the mentor roulette. On the other hand, ppl who go to roulette usually go for the sake of achievement and don't really like join for the sake of helping others.

Then again, helping ppl clear contents doesn't really mean they're helping ppl in becoming good. And when you're not good, you're prone to getting into trouble. That's just how MMO works.

Unfortunately, they exist, and I have repeatedly met them. I will pray to the God of randomness, so as not to meet them again. And, as I already said, their gear (obtained in raids and extreme trials) gives a fairly clear idea.

Do not get me wrong. I was a raider in another game, and I really know how it works. There are type of people, in any game, who take every opportunity to assert themselves. Be it a pixel weapon or the same pixel crown next to the character’s name.

What I'm trying to say is that the mentoring system does not work. At the moment, it is very toxic and needs more thoughtful processing than just increasing the number of recommendations. Really good people remain unnoticed, because selfish guys with a crown are the majority. Unfortunately, now mentoring system is another tool to show the prestige. There is nothing, or very little, from actual support and help.

Sometimes I see sprouts saying that they got scolded in dungeons, meeting 'dementors', leavers, etc. Most mentors in NN would tell them "weird ppl, just ignore them." ...which is half-true.
Personally I almost never see ppl getting angry over small stuff, especially in mentor roulette. If you meet these "weird ppl" that often, then there's also chance that you're just that bad that ppl can't help getting angry at you. And no please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to be a****** or anything, but it's definitely my personal experience. Some ppl are just THAT bad. I don't know how it is in your case, but if you meet such people THAT often, you might need to revisit the Hall of Novice for your own sake, too.

[Tsalmaveth]

That is something to consider: Mentors can 'help' and give 'advice'... but they are not there to 'carry' or 'literally teach you how to play' past a particular point. At what point does there need to be some personal accountability here, y'all? Maybe you ran into a person having a poor day. Or, if it's a repeat offender... they shouldn't be in the system. Remove them. However, it behooves new players to also take it upon themselves to use all necessary options to learn and not just expect others to hold their hands because 'well they are mentors they have to do it or they should be punished or the system removed'. Use the Halls of Novice. Watch videos on a fight to learn it, join practice groups for things, DON'T USE SKIPS if you're literally new to the game... all kinds of reasons why vet players might be grumpy... there's always two sides to the 'grumpy' coin here.

[Hatfright]

Personally I almost never see ppl getting angry over small stuff, especially in mentor roulette. If you meet these "weird ppl" that often, then there's also chance that you're just that bad that ppl can't help getting angry at you. And no please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to be a****** or anything, but it's definitely my personal experience. Some ppl are just THAT bad. I don't know how it is in your case, but if you meet such people THAT often, you might need to revisit the Hall of Novice for your own sake, too.

As someone who plays with Raj constantly, I can assure you, he don't need to do that.

Most of the "weird mentors" I've met gets angry about pretty everything, and most of the time it's not even EX trials. They mostly treat you like you're one of Trust NPC, except you can do aoe damage. And most of all, it's "you're not goin fast enough" thing that makes them angry. I mean, yeah, okay, I can pool whole dungeon, no probs, but are they able to heal me through that? Nope. I can DCD my axe off, but you only have that many DCD. Or it's other way around, they expect you to heal with them using zero DCD. That stuff happens all the time I do roulettes without friends. All. The. Time. Do I have a need to revisit HoN to meet their expectations? No, I don't think so.
Experts, leveling, trials, raids, no matter what roulette it is, if there's a crown in the crowd, most likely someone will be talked off. Most of the time if there're a newbie, there'll be no tips for the fight even if someone asks for it. You'll get "don't die" if you're lucky. Yeah, thanks, great advice. It's not mentorship.
Noticed funny (if you can call it that) thing. People want to run through something faster, but refuse to give advice for new people. In most late and post-ARR dungeons it likely will get at least the newbies killed, in some cases party too. How's that for "faster clears"? Spendin 2-3 min to explain what to expect? No, they better spend it running from the start. Best example here is the World of Darkness. Why tell people to catch the meteors (or go catch it yourself) if you can complain about it killing you all instead, am I right? It's not mentorship either. And it happens constantly.

That is something to consider: Mentors can 'help' and give 'advice'... but they are not there to 'carry' or 'literally teach you how to play' past a particular point.

I agree. But least you can expect from mentor is being a decent human being and not gettin flamed when you literally did nothing wrong but haven't played the way they wanted you to.

So yeah. System stinks. It needs rework at best. I'd be glad for it to go. NN can be easely replased with other world chat, so if someone needs advice, they can ask for it here for anyone to see. At least some good soul will answer.

[AmeliaVerves]

That stuff happens all the time I do roulettes without friends. All. The. Time.

Again: I barely experience that on Chaos DF and I run it alone regularly. Ofc you have bad apples and some ppl are moving out their way and are rude, but it's by far not 'all the time'. Like, idk, I agree that the mentor system is just plain bad, but ppl wearing a crown are also not the root of all evil lmao.
I'd still argue that most of them are indifferent/silent or they at least try. It's just that bad experiences last way longer in ppls memory than good ones.
And on the other side you see a lot of entitled sprouts as well, mind you. People that expect you to explain every single mechanic and pull of a dungeon and ofc rotations of all jobs on top. Just, idk dude if you wanted to be fully informed beforehand just read up a guide before entering the dungeon? They are just taking the easy road, leaning back and being like "well, mentors have to explain to me, so I don't have to do a thing and just wait for them to give the information to me". I can see why mentors might get salty when meeting these.


One thing I would really like to see is a more broken down like 'rank' system for Mentors. RN we have PvE/Crafter/Gatherer/PvP Mentors, but I think it would be way more helpful to differentiate it further. Have combat mentors (maybe even class mentors), story mentors, gameworld mentors, encounter mentors(or rather dungeon mentors, trial mentors (for EX trials), raid mentors (for savages/ultimates)) and so on.
This would help the mentors to be only held accountable for their special field and also the sprouts, because they had a better idea who to ask for the kind of advice/help they're looking for.

[Iscah]

Atomos is pretty chatty, from time to time beginners ask for ppl to come with them to certain contents and most of the time ppl would join.

Oh cool. I have an alt on Atomos (U'zolwe Tia if you see him around) so I'll have to get someone to invite me in.

[MitsukiKimura]

So I want to put this out there and it has been mentioned before, but mentors need another re-work. Just because a person gets commendations does not mean you are suitable to be a mentor. I cannot tell you how many countless times I have joined a roulette or party and I see the mentors go. "You should just go in unsynched." or they just leave. There should be a counter for how many times they just up and abandon a duty that way if they do it many times their mentor roulette becomes suspended. There should also be a report mentor function that needs to be reviewed so that if someone is abusive to other players as a mentor it should be taken away.

As someone who enjoys teaching people how to do a fight and learning as we go, it is horrible to see someone join in and say "Just do it unsynched." What great mentor advice! This is a major issue for a healthy community and the future growth of this game. Mentor status should be an honor and a chance to show your skills to help others achieve a great goal! So please FFXIV reword the mentor status again and make it to where being a mentor isn't just something to get a roulette and rewards. Make it for people who want to help.

I'm all for a system that allows you to report misbehavior from a mentor. As myself being one, I do try to help beginner players as much as I can but I mostly will let people experience it first hand then if I need to say something that either means death of the party or wipe, I'll give advice. Don't let those people try to ruin your experience for helping others. A shiny crown doesn't hide a bad attitude.

[Hatfright]

One thing I would really like to see is a more broken down like 'rank' system for Mentors. RN we have PvE/Crafter/Gatherer/PvP Mentors, but I think it would be way more helpful to differentiate it further. Have combat mentors (maybe even class mentors), story mentors, gameworld mentors, encounter mentors(or rather dungeon mentors, trial mentors (for EX trials), raid mentors (for savages/ultimates)) and so on.
This would help the mentors to be only held accountable for their special field and also the sprouts, because they had a better idea who to ask for the kind of advice/help they're looking for.

That might help. Just cuz I leveled all battle classes to max doesn't mean I know how to play them well.

As for personal experienses... I'm not sayin someone is the root of all evil, there's deffo spoils in every bunch. I'm probably just that lucky to run more into crowned people with no basic manners or understanding there's people with you. People, who might not be able to pull wall to wall or react as quick due tons of reasons (from server lag and internet connection issues to evething else), and there's no need to bully them for it. Yes, there is players who understand that. But I didn't met them that much to balance the whole situation for me.

It might as well be timezone issue. I noticed "bad stuff" happening less when I run roulettes right after it's cooldown time. But more time after cd, more chanses to get angry people. And, well, by the time I usually do roulletes, most of the players probably already finished it.

[Deceptus]

That might help. Just cuz I leveled all battle classes to max doesn't mean I know how to play them well.

You know more than you think you do. Some of the most important things you learn leveling up all the jobs is how they interact with each other.

You've felt the pain as a healer of a tank who doesn't use a single defensive CD.

You've seen pulls take way too long because DPS refuse to use any aoe whatsoever.

You've seen healers who think their only job is to heal and not mitigate damage by helping kill mobs.

All of this knowledge you can pass on to other players.