State of the game

[Razard]

I appreciate the feedback but I do think you're missing the point. I am not oblivious to how the world works I know there are bad people out there. The best example I can give is this:

Just think of giving your money to a business for a service then one day you call customer service for help only to be met with insults by more than one person who indirectly represent that business and then ban your phone number for a half hour.

Would you think twice before giving your money to that business again?

That's not what this is though. This is going to a McDonalds, asking a fellow customer what he would suggest and having that customer and his friends berate you about "Not knowing what you want. LOL."

Then blaming the McDonalds for it.

[Jojoya]

I think the biggest thing that got to me was the fact I spoke up and disagreed with how a mentor handled the situation and got muted for 30 mins while the rouge mentor got praised and got away with it. To me, this is an abuse of power and while this was happening other people in the channel were sorta egging the problematic mentor on and I seem to think that this kind of toxic behavior is not only accepted but encouraged.

Unless people report them, nothing will be done and they will be able to continue behaving that way.

Silence doesn't mean approval. How many others were in that NN at the time but said nothing at all? Perhaps they're unwilling to report that incident and others they've witnessed just like you didn't. Trying to confront them in NN obviously doesn't work when the ones causing the problem have control.

Report, don't confront. If SE isn't informed that it's happening nothing will be done. The toxic players will continue to run the place.

[DBriggs304]

I have never seen anything like this on the NN and only saw typical banter and when a question was asked, typically was answered and then right back to banter. Must be different by server.

[Iscah]

So I posted in the NN that I didn't believe the percentages actually meant much in gathering and it was weird that one node with 79% chances hits all 4 times where as another node with 94% chance hits nothing.

While the response definitely sounds unfair and could have been handled far more helpfully (and sounds like they're just waiting for a chance to ridicule people instead of actually explaining things), on your actual question - it is indeed just a matter of random chance and not a failure of the system for you to get 0 out of 4 at 94% chance of success. It's just that there's a... (reaches for calculator) 0.001296% or 1-in-77610 chance of it happening.

If it's happening repeatedly, something strange is going on. But if it only happened once (or even twice), that's pure luck. Percentages are about the average result you'll get over many attempts, and if you gather from that node with that chance 100 times you will probably have about 94 successes and 6 failures. You just got several of those failures at once.

[Selova]

one anecdotal experience in a global chat that is known for not always being the most helpful isn't really reflective on the state of the game. While the experience you had was a negative one and it's a shame that it happened, you would have eventually come across these types of people because it's the internet and just because they happen to be a mentor doesn't mean that they are always going to be positive and helpful. I personally wouldn't let this prevent you from actually enjoying the game, just ignore it and move on. You kind of have to when it comes to MMO's because this is just how it is.

[SturmChurro]

I played this game about a year and a half, two years ago and everything was great. I just re-subbed for a month and it's gone extremely down hill since I last played. The toxicity of this game is now unmatched and today was my last draw.

So I was mining and I posted a statement/question about mining percentages on the Novice Network only to be met with insults and made fun of by not only 1 but 2 mentors. After which I politely explained my reasoning behind my statement, I said I didn't appreciate the insults from the said mentor, as a mentor he shouldn't talk to players like that and explained that this game has gone down hill then to be met with a 30min ban from the channel.

Sad at what this game has become since I last played. I won't be re-subbing anymore and will pretty much move on from this.

Thanks,
o/ TC all

Yep, this is typical mentor behavior. I have had a similar experience in the past. The mentor system just needs to be removed.

[linay]

I suppose it doesn't help that the requirement included 1,500 comms. If you're somebody who mainly queues pre-made or semi-premade then it takes a while to get 1,500 comms. If you're like me and are actually spread across more than one character, I have enough comms...just not on a single character. I would consider contributing to NN otherwise. I feel like the mentor system could also be done better, because I don't think the system is fit for purpose. As much as a community people can combat the crappy attitudes towards new players in the novice network, I think a smarter mentor system would be more effective.

Just have "recommend for mentorship" as an option at the each of every instance with no incentives like a challenge log for people to grant it to somebody. Whilst not perfect, it clearly communicates that this is just there if you think somebody was helpful. Make a certain number of recommendations a requirement to mentorship. Avoid any kind of glory status with the title, it's purely there to show people that you are to help and to give advice and offer the novice network to them. People who have the right attitude in wanting to help newbies don't need an incentive scheme to do it. If an incentive/reward were needed, maybe once you're a mentor your "recommendation for mentorship" could be upgraded to "helpful mentor". And they could lead to rewards.

These would be more meaningful and make clear their intended purpose, so a leafer is less likely to give "helpful mentor" if you've been a jerk and been completely unproductive.

If they then wanted to, tie the current mentor system to some glory thing instead. This then fills that niche and clogs up the mentor system less.

It's not a perfect system still and will have its flaws, but I think would be more representative and effective than what we have now because it shifts incentives and is more transparent.

I like your idea, although with the current system, the high commendation requirement does leave out potentially worse mentor candidate. Mentor is also more about helping strangers at a basic level, which is probably why pre-made group where people have more control over who they group with might not fit. As for having multiple alts, it just shows that this game is really not meant for alt characters, though it's not impossible.

[LordDrakore]

That's not what this is though. This is going to a McDonalds, asking a fellow customer what he would suggest and having that customer and his friends berate you about "Not knowing what you want. LOL."

Then blaming the McDonalds for it.

I do understand what you're saying. Let me rephrase my/your analogy, When you go into McDonalds and you see people standing around with tags that say "Hi, I don't work here but you can approach me for help" and when you do the person is anything but helpful. Then after that you tell the person "You know you're not that helpful" Another person, given the power by McDonalds" to stop you from speaking for 30 mins in the restaurant. Wouldn't ask to yourself? Why would McDonallds let people do that?

[SturmChurro]

I do understand what you're saying. Let me rephrase my/your analogy, When you go into McDonalds and you see people standing around with tags that say "Hi, I don't work here but you can approach me for help" and when you do the person is anything but helpful. Then after that you tell the person "You know you're not that helpful" Another person, given the power by McDonalds" to stop you from speaking for 30 mins in the restaurant. Wouldn't ask to yourself? Why would McDonallds let people do that?

A mentor should actually lose their status after poor behavior. Without true oversight by SE this system is garbage. Again, it needs to be shutdown.

[Gula]

A mentor should actually lose their status after poor behavior. Without true oversight by SE this system is garbage. Again, it needs to be shutdown.

*for the West