The problem with the mentor system

[Arkfrost]

Hey everyone,

I assume you are all familiar with the main problem, the mentor system has:
Mentors are rarely mentors to help other players (which is their intended purpose)

The reason for this, let's face it, is the fact that the mentor status is not viewed as a position of responsibility, but as an achievement. One of the main reasons for this in my opinion is, that the mentor status is displayed with a golden crown.
You can deny it all you want, but the majority of people who aim for that status see a golden crown as a seal of approval, that they're some kind of good player or something and that it entitles them to call themselves "experienced player", to prove that they know, what they're talking about, when in a discussion. A crown is the symbol of a king, not the symbol of a teacher and because of this, a crown is an inappropriate symbol for a mentor. It's mainly a psychological thing, that people feel, when they see a crown.

I've also come up with a band-aid solution for this, which might fix this problem by a large margin: Change the icon to something neutral, not too appealing.
An idea for example might be glasses with a wood pointer/the corresponding icon for the mentoring part.
I've even made example pictures for this:
General Mentor:
PvE Mentor:
Trade Mentor:
PvP Mentor:

Now I 100% know, that SE will not use these icons I've made, of course, but these are only to show, how it could look like.

The golden crown on the other hand could become an exclusive icon for FC leaders and that's it.

[PyurBlue]

Mentors are rarely mentors to help other players (which is their intended purpose)

This isn't true.

You can deny it all you want, but the majority of people who aim for that status see a golden crown as a seal of approval

The crown specifically means nothing. Any exclusive symbol will generate the same response from players. Some portion will just want it for status.

[Arkfrost]

This isn't true.

Yes, it is. On several servers, no matter if it's high-pop or low-pop, the novice network is mostly useless. Just to quote something I've read on reddit recently:

If you could take a cancerous tumour, infect it with AIDS and hepatitis, surgically implant it into a diseased anus, and then convert the whole mess into a chat channel, it would be the Novice Network on Cerberus.

The crown specifically means nothing. Any exclusive symbol will generate the same response from players. Some portion will just want it for status.

I would disagree. A crown is always considered something special and is much more likely to lead people to see it as a status symbol. A pair of boring glasses doesn't do this - at least not to such an extend. Most people wouldn't even ask "How do I get that pair of glasses on my name?", but most new players who start out would ask "How do I get such a crown on my name?"

[Deceptus]

Yes, it is. On several servers, no matter if it's high-pop or low-pop, the novice network is mostly useless. Just to quote something I've read on reddit recently:

What can be claimed without proof is easily disproved without proof.

[Anarnee]

Yes, it is. On several servers, no matter if it's high-pop or low-pop, the novice network is mostly useless.

I think this is a cultural difference. I had the experience that the NN is awful on EU and the player base there is super negative about it, while on NA, the NN is full of people willing to help and yes we meme about it but people are not as hostile about it as they are on EU. Every server has their own community, and I've seen some drama in the NN but I certainly see lots of people helping others in the NN all the time on NA and a lot of mentors take their role seriously. (People taking time to kick bots from the NN, and don't hesitate to kick people trolling new users, etc.)

Of course I'm sure that not all of EU is like that, and my experience on EU servers if far more limited, I only have three characters in EU, where as I have a lot of characters on different NA servers.

The system is not perfect, but saying that it's completely negative is ignorant.

I do want the crown to be changed though. I always liked the idea that the mentor symbol should be a watering can, so we can water the sprouts.

[Snowdove]

As I said before, I like the mentor system and never had a problem with it.


The crown is very helpful for new players to identify someone who is willing to help...as long as that person who has the crown is willing to help and not as a status symbol. I have no idea how to "fix" the system so we can make that distinction.


But I will say something anecdotally:


Look at my join date. Now look at my character level. That is not because of a new job. It's been two years and I haven't made it any higher.


FF14 is intimidating to new players, and the lack of a world chat makes the game feel very isolated. It doesn't have a good recruitment system for Free Companies, so finding one is hard for some people who are shy to talk to people out of the blue.


So I play for a bit and then disappear because of that in game loneliness.


Novice Network is really helpful. But it wasn't until last month that I got into it as a "returneee" because before no mentor invited me and I was too shy to ask one to invite.


I shudder to think what I will do when NN isn't available to me. Probably disappear for a while again.

[SturmChurro]

The best solution is and has always been to just get rid of the system entirely. In my opinion.

[ShariusTC]

The best solution is and has always been to just get rid of the system entirely. In my opinion.

i don't think it simple, the reason for NN exist is because FF14 doesn't has somekind of world chat channel, so if you get rid of NN, new player mostly feel lost when they start their game since they have no where to ask about the game

[Snowdove]

i don't think it simple, the reason for NN exist is because FF14 doesn't has somekind of world chat channel, so if you get rid of NN, new player mostly feel lost when they start their game since they have no where to ask about the game

This, this, this!


As one of those new players, FF14 seems so lonely without a world chat channel. "Join a Free Company" is the popular mantra most people shout out, but it isn't that easy for some.


And I have had a lot of good interactions with the mentors in the Novice Channel. Very helpful.


Yes, the novice channel is mostly random chat. And I like that. And when I have a question, someone is there to help.


So yes, the novice network is good and FF14 needs a world chat channel. (One that people can opt out of.)

[SturmChurro]

This, this, this!


As one of those new players, FF14 seems so lonely without a world chat channel. "Join a Free Company" is the popular mantra most people shout out, but it isn't that easy for some.


And I have had a lot of good interactions with the mentors in the Novice Channel. Very helpful.


Yes, the novice channel is mostly random chat. And I like that. And when I have a question, someone is there to help.


So yes, the novice network is good and FF14 needs a world chat channel. (One that people can opt out of.)

So you are confirming the mentor system is worthless, and we just need a world chat channel to replace it?! I agree.