Suggestion: Change the Mentor Icons

[RokkuEkkusu]

I agree with you on the changing the mentor icons. The crown typically attracts all kinds of "mentors".

However, players still want prestige, bragging rights, etc. So those mentors with questionable attitudes/playstyles will take the mentor status regardless.

In the past, it has been suggested in the forums, but that request became ignored/fell on deaf ears, so we have the crown to stay for the foreseeable future.

It if were up to me as far as Mentor Roulette goes, I would keep the gil and tome rewards for that Roulette, but remove the Mount achievement reward from it.

Extreme should be absolutely not be removed from mentor roulette. That's one of the few instances, where people actually need mentors in their party. You don't need a mentor for guildhests.

And this is where a 2-way street is at. Mentors show up and teach mechanics to the new people. It is up to the new people to follow them. But if the new people are not willing to follow the advice of the mentors and the party wipes, the mentors will ultimately get discouraged from helping others learn about EX fights synced because some new players are just not willing to put in any effort apply the advice given by the mentors.

The most memorable example I can think of is Shiva EX's bow phase. All that people need to do is to stay behind close to Shiva so when Avalanche comes out, they would only take the damage and avoid getting into the outer freeze area. But players are all over the place during Bow Phase to the point where they either get knocked out by the Glass Dance arrows or get frozen into the outer circle from the Avalanche move when they are targeted by it. Most party wipes tend to snowball from there. [And newer players NOT getting in their designated waymarks for their targeted ice aoes in other phases can also be rather discouraging for veterans who farmed the fight.)

[Skivvy]

I think the icon should be even more basic than a little watering can. I'm sure plenty of people would still equip that just because they think it's cute. Also attaching rewards of any kind to being a mentor was a mistake.

[Lexis]

I think they should keep the crown along with the other rewards, but change it to a simple 'Veteran' reward. Once the Veteran status has been unlocked, people could chose to opt in and become actual Mentors (perhaps make the icon a stylized M, much like the RP icon, something simple and easily recognizable).

That way, people flying the Mentor colors would truly be looking to help out new players while those who worked hard towards unlocking their Veteran rewards (and those who seek to unlock them in the future) can keep their goodies and continue to display their crowns.

[Skivvy]

I think they should keep the crown along with the other rewards, but change it to a simple 'Veteran' reward. Once the Veteran status has been unlocked, people could chose to opt in and become actual Mentors (perhaps make the icon a stylized M, much like the RP icon, something simple and easily recognizable).

That way, people flying the Mentor colors would truly be looking to help out new players while those who worked hard towards unlocking their Veteran rewards (and those who seek to unlock them in the future) can keep their goodies and continue to display their crowns.

I like this idea. It would be a way to keep the crown/current reward system in place, but also allow for proper mentors to emerge. Players who want to help will do so...without the need of a carrot being dangled in their face.

[Packetdancer]

I think there’s a lot of benefit to the Novice Network concept, especially for folks on the free trial who can’t join an FC (and thus lack that potential avenue to seek help). But I think the mentor system as it is may be unfixable without making massive enough changes you might as well just remove it and start from scratch.

The worst part is that no one—including possibly the devs—seems certain what mentors are supposed to be. Are they just folks who have been around long enough to know the answers to basic game questions? Are they just experienced enough players that they can be trusted to be warm bodies to backfill every bit of content in the game? Are they meant to be expert players who can tell you how to play a job correctly? All of the above?

I feel like they need to really define what a mentor is, and then make the criteria to become one match what they need from the role. Because just earning 1500 commendations is hardly a good basis for some of those things.

[TaleraRistain]

Not really. People would still compete for that. So probably both get rid of any special icon and get rid of the mount. Putting the mount into the system was one of the stupidest things they did with it.

[van_arn]

Novice network is far more valuable than many give it credit for, even if it’s just a trash social vanity channel.

If anything needs to be done with the mentor icons, it needs to be a matter of making the icons invisible to anyone other than mentors. I’m seeing more harassment as time goes on with players trying to dictate how mentors mentor, and that really shouldn’t be a thing.

[Rae88]

Novice network is far more valuable than many give it credit for, even if it’s just a trash social vanity channel.

The person who introduced me to FFXIV, their first piece of advice to me was "never sign up to Novice Network".

To be honest never needed it, never missed it.

[van_arn]

The person who introduced me to FFXIV, their first piece of advice to me was "never sign up to Novice Network".

To be honest never needed it, never missed it.

While not what I'd consider bad advice, I'd rather players make that decision on their own. Some people really enjoy the social aspect of NN, and it provides them a home away from home until they find an FC. Not to mention NN can actually help players find a social FC.

Is it as good as a custom-fit FC? Not always, but this varies by server.

Is a cherry-picked video of the worst of NN indicative of NN as a whole? Not really, but that also depends on your server. Once again, players are expecting the mentor system to do more than it's intended to do, and that's not the system's fault.

[KageTokage]

I've similarly not had any noticeably terrible experience with mentors and mostly find myself getting annoyed by the fact that only about 10-20% of the mentors taking up the limited space in NN ever actually offer advice/help.

Not saying you need to be offering input on every single question that's posed in there or anything, but I'm familiar enough with the people in my local NN to know who is/isn't deadweight and the latter are the vast majority; just being individuals who got mentor status for the roulette and/or "prestige" and nothing else.

Ironically, I've actually seen more sprouts being toxic towards mentors by getting mad at them because they did not get a response to a question that was incomprehensibly worded and/or too specific for the average mentor to know the answer off the top of their head.