Mentor system needs an overhaul

[technole]

Trade mentor is rather fake, the requirements are so low that you can sleepwalk your way to collectables. The majority are not even giving any trade advice, anywhere, and because the content where it even mattered has past us for months. Usually you don't take much stock in anyone with a hammer crown.


Now commendations are important to the system, that's why it was raised heavily. You don't want people who just don't get along with others, or stink at the game in-general. You know why people comm others even if they don't say anything. Like they do good DPS, or know their job and content to a high-level. That's important, you want people whom others approve of.

I don't speak in-content over 90% of the time, yet I've broken over 5000 in commendations over the years. From all types of content.

[RinaB]

Trade mentor is rather fake, the requirements are so low that you can sleepwalk your way to collectables. The majority are not even giving any trade advice, anywhere, and because the content where it even mattered has past us for months. Usually you don't take much stock in anyone with a hammer crown.


Now commendations are important to the system, that's why it was raised heavily. You don't want people who just don't get along with others, or stink at the game in-general. You know why people comm others even if they don't say anything. Like they do good DPS, or know their job and content to a high-level. That's important, you want people whom others approve of.

I don't speak in-content over 90% of the time, yet I've broken over 5000 in commendations over the years. From all types of content.

I approve of this message. Most of the time theres nothing to say unless my whole group is sprouts and I know there's some weird mechanics up ahead. I also rarely get asked questions about anything and im there to make the run as smooth as possible for all of us (DRK main). I get a lot of commendations because I'm focused on a smooth quality run and I feel that by doing that, you're still showing newer players what an ideal run should look like. I feel theres a variety of ways to be a mentor and I think these ideas of punishing mentors into the floor for not acting exactly how you think they should is ridiculous.

[ItMe]

I don't speak in-content over 90% of the time, yet I've broken over 5000 in commendations over the years. From all types of content.

It's probably from people like me who try and commend someone at the end of each duty.
Spread the love and the parade whistles~

[Vahlnir]

Trade mentor is rather fake, the requirements are so low that you can sleepwalk your way to collectables. The majority are not even giving any trade advice, anywhere, and because the content where it even mattered has past us for months. Usually you don't take much stock in anyone with a hammer crown.


Now commendations are important to the system, that's why it was raised heavily. You don't want people who just don't get along with others, or stink at the game in-general. You know why people comm others even if they don't say anything. Like they do good DPS, or know their job and content to a high-level. That's important, you want people whom others approve of.

I don't speak in-content over 90% of the time, yet I've broken over 5000 in commendations over the years. From all types of content.

I think that commendations should play a part, but I don't think they are an accurate gauge of how helpful a player can be. A lot of the time I'm rushing just to hand one out because people leave so fast, usually not even throwing a commendation at someone themselves, so it's basically like "Uh...yeah, that person. Here's a commendation I guess!"

[Jeeqbit]

rarely get asked questions about anything and im there to make the run as smooth as possible for all of us (DRK main). I get a lot of commendations because I'm focused on a smooth quality run and I feel that by doing that, you're still showing newer players what an ideal run should look like.

This exactly. Even if there is no talking and you do a speedrun in front of sprouts, you're teaching them how to do a speedrun and that this is something they can expect more of as they get to higher levels.

As a tank I am confident I can survive big pulls even if the healer isn't very confident or experienced with their role, so I use this to give the novice healer the confidence that they can heal a big pull. Many tanks would not survive certain big pulls with a novice healer, but because I can I provide them the opportunity to gain confidence and practice.

[HyoMinPark]

Hello everyone.

I come here to express my frustration with the current Mentor system in the game. I've been playing FFXIV since September 2019 or so, and having played many MMORPGs for the past 15 years, I believe this system in the game as it works now is probably the worst of them all.

When I started the game as a sprout, I've come across Mentors who had no knowledge about the game whatsoever. Whenever I asked a question, I was told "just google it lol". Since I come from already a toxic environment from another game, I wasn't bothered too much, yet it was rather weird a person showing themselves as Mentors, aka the golden crown, had no idea about the game they're playing. At times I felt like I was talking to a newbie player hidden behind that crown.

On one hand, Mentors can’t be expected to know everything. However, a lot in this game only want the Burger King crown for the “bragging rights” associated. As if it means much in this community. A lot of people don’t take mentors seriously. At least on NA and EU. Can’t speak for JP.

Once I lost my sprout status, I was playing AST and going through Eden for the first time. Having used Diurnal stance with a WHM in group, I had no idea Nocturnal stance at that time would've been better for mitigation. Our dps was slow but manageable, and we wiped 2-3 times, until the Mentor in our group began to berate me for my use of Diurnal stance for 10-15 minutes. This was back during my time on Chaos data center. I was rather hurt and the group disbanded. I even had to take a 2-3 week break from the game, just because of that moment.

Well, first of all. If you were doing normal mode, AST stance doesn’t matter when you’re paired with a WHM. You can use Nocturnal stance if you want, but Diurnal works just as well with a WHM. Normal mode doesn’t do enough damage to warrant shields as a necessity, so double regens is perfectly fine. Double regens is even viable at higher levels of play where shields aren’t needed for survivability. So you don’t need to worry about running Diurnal with a WHM.

However, you shouldn’t have let an ignorant “mentor” kill your love for this game for the better part of a month.

I've moved to Crystal data center last year, and come to realization that Mentors here are far more worse, very aggressive, hostile and unhelpful. Running Stormblood raids for my Memories (Resistance relic weapon), we had a Dancer Mentor in our group who never avoided any AoE's, which ultimately caused them to die plenty of times during every single boss fight. They even complained to us (the healers), about the heals to which I had to retort and make them understand, standing in AoE's is deadly.

You see, having this system based on commendations is rather absurd, in fact, it's the worst idea ever. My friend, while on Free Trial, has amassed a total of 3,576 commendations mainly because she mains WHM. I reached 3k commends myself in no time while leveling my healers yet I hide my crown. Doing those role quests is in fact just as easy, and the system needs an overhaul -- immediately.

- Mentor system shouldn't be based on commendations alone. It should be removed.
- Players who wish to become Mentors should have all classes maxed out
- There should be a requirement for grinding low-level content, ARR specially.
- Mentors should have all relic quests completed from all expansions. The grind in ARR is real challenge for that.
- More focus on FATEs. I've seen too many Mentors not understand how Fates work.
- Harsher punishment for players abusing the Mentor system to berate players that are non-sprouts. I see it happen almost daily at this rate.

Either way, whether SE does something or not, this whole system will ultimately be seen in a negative light over time.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Honestly, the Mentor system has been a meme since its introduction. I’d be fine with its removal since the players that actually want to help people were already doing that before the Burger King crown existed. However—

- Mentor system shouldn't be based on commendations alone. It should be removed.
- Players who wish to become Mentors should have all classes maxed out
- There should be a requirement for grinding low-level content, ARR specially.
- Mentors should have all relic quests completed from all expansions. The grind in ARR is real challenge for that.
- More focus on FATEs. I've seen too many Mentors not understand how Fates work.
- Harsher punishment for players abusing the Mentor system to berate players that are non-sprouts. I see it happen almost daily at this rate.

- Commendations don’t mean anything. I get them thrown at me as a healer for doing the bare minimum, but when I actively help on a DPS role I get none. So I agree. They aren’t a measurement of worth or skill. Some people comm based on things like “cool name” or “cool glamour” alone.

- Not necessary to have all classes maxed out. Maxed classes don’t mean you understand how they play. I max out every job before the end of every expansion, but that doesn’t mean I know anything about how to play melee DPS or tanks. I primarily play healers or physical ranged. Now, if you want to have “healer mentor”, “tank mentor”, “ranged DPS mentor” sub-categories, then that’s fine. But I disagree with having all classes maxed.

- Why should there be a requirement for this? What criteria are you trying to set forth for this? You say ARR especially, but a lot of ARR content is faceroll and nothing like what it used to be.

- No point in this. Old relics are outdated content that don’t take much in terms of skill to complete—just time and endurance of the mundane. They don’t speak anything of a player’s skill level or understand of job design or game mechanics.

- 99% of FATEs are “kill the things and win”. The other 1% being “gather X item on the ground while not killing anything and win”. I don’t think this reflects anything on player skill or understanding of the game either.

- Punishments are fine. Removal of the status should be a thing.

[RinaB]

This exactly. Even if there is no talking and you do a speedrun in front of sprouts, you're teaching them how to do a speedrun and that this is something they can expect more of as they get to higher levels.

As a tank I am confident I can survive big pulls even if the healer isn't very confident or experienced with their role, so I use this to give the novice healer the confidence that they can heal a big pull. Many tanks would not survive certain big pulls with a novice healer, but because I can I provide them the opportunity to gain confidence and practice.

Yeah but I also pull based on how the group is performing. So if things are dying real quick or things are dying incredibly slow I control the pace accordingly and I think that is also something that makes someone a mentor. The ability to adapt to situations and understand what's going on outside of enemy mechanics should also be counted as a mentor quality. Im not here to stand at the gates of Gridania and give you gil and diapers.

[Penthea]

Unfortunately, a thread like this is only too common around here. I don't think the mentor system needs an overhaul, I think it needs to retired. Gotten rid of. It's a great idea in theory, but in practice.. not so much. It would just be healthier for the game as a whole, and better for new players as well.

I completely agree. The advice I give to any sprout who wants access to frequent help is to join an active fc welcoming to new players. You don't need a crown to be a good mentor.

The mentor system is a nice idea but it's ruined by those who are mentors for the wrong reasons. There is often far more quality control within fcs than there is in the NN chat. With no figure of authority to purge the bad eggs, NN frequently becomes useless at best.

[Vahlnir]

I completely agree. The advice I give to any sprout who wants access to frequent help is to join an active fc welcoming to new players. You don't need a crown to be a good mentor.

The mentor system is a nice idea but it's ruined by those who are mentors for the wrong reasons. There is often far more quality control within fcs than there is in the NN chat. With no figure of authority to purge the bad eggs, NN frequently becomes useless at best.

My server's NN is pretty decent for the most part. It is largely server based. Diabolos' serves as a place for help (which is very quickly given) and as sort of a general chat. Sometimes it goes for a couple hours without a single word being said, and then a question is asked...and is promptly answered. A fair number of people seem to like being in it. The other day I saw a few say that they enjoyed NN because it was more lively than their FC chats, which is kinda sad in a way, but it's good that people actually want to be there. lol

[HyoMinPark]

My server's NN is pretty decent for the most part. It is largely server based. Diabolos' serves as as place for help (which is very quickly given) and as sort of a general chat. Sometimes it goes for a couple hours without a single word being said. A fair number of people seem to like being in it. The other day I saw a few say that they enjoyed NN because it was more lively than their FC chats, which is kinda sad in a way, but it's good that people actually want to be there. lol

Cactuar’s is much the same way. Questions are usually always answered whenever someone has an answer to give, and then it serves as a general chat people use to pass the time. I don’t see a lot of toxicity or arguments in it. Most debates are settled calmly with very little reason to kick one or both debaters.