Are Combat Mentor Requirements Too Easy?

[Rhus]

Even if you had them pass ultimate remember even rich passed all three and that’s before you get into the selling of clears

[Rinhi]

I see battle mentors more like a "I've played this game long enough time to get enough commendations!"-badge. So it's both yes and no. Yes because it's something that any player will inevitably get. No because despite that the time requirement is still quite lengthy compared to... the living meme that is Trade Mentor.

I second this
I've gotten most of my commendations when I was a bad player, be it as a 100% medica 2 and regen uptime when it wasn't needed WHM, the not pulling enough in easy or pulling too much in the 4-5 harder dungeons GNB or the I'm just pressing those glowing buttons with barely good enough gear MNK
many times, during those dark, dark times, I've gotten 3, sometimes even 5-6 commendations from premades, even when I didn't deserve them one bit or even held them back
it's sadly not a sign that someone is a good player

[Reinha]

I think mentor shouldn't have ANY requirements other than "I would like to be a mentor" and current completion of all MSQ content. However I also think mentor shouldn't have "rewards" attached to it. It should be purely voluntary and out of desire to help, not desire for stuff.

This kind of mentor system is brought up a lot. Delete the crown, remove rewards and just have people volunteer for it.

Well, it's already in the game. When you've done your daily roulettes and gotten your xp/tomes, queue again for no reward on a level 80 job. I have a feeling that not many of the complainers are actually doing that. Definitely not 2000 times.

[Jeeqbit]

I second this
I've gotten most of my commendations when I was a bad player, be it as a 100% medica 2 and regen uptime when it wasn't needed WHM, the not pulling enough in easy or pulling too much in the 4-5 harder dungeons GNB or the I'm just pressing those glowing buttons with barely good enough gear MNK
many times, during those dark, dark times, I've gotten 3, sometimes even 5-6 commendations from premades, even when I didn't deserve them one bit or even held them back
it's sadly not a sign that someone is a good player

It's not necessarily a sign they are a good player. It's usually a sign they are an experienced player. The point of a mentor is to share experience. If one mentor does not have the right information to share, in the context of the novice network dozens of others will share their experiences too and most of them will say the right answer.

[Krotoan]

This kind of mentor system is brought up a lot. Delete the crown, remove rewards and just have people volunteer for it.

Well, it's already in the game. When you've done your daily roulettes and gotten your xp/tomes, queue again for no reward on a level 80 job. I have a feeling that not many of the complainers are actually doing that. Definitely not 2000 times.

and.. that's the problem. Lots of people who have the Mentor title do not want to help others, they want the rewards. Or maybe they .. KINDA wanna help people but they need a reward to help people who really need it (though if you use the forums as a gauge not even then) . We can already help people, mentor title or not and until I bothered to unlock the role I did just about as much helping as I do now. I think the whole thing is not suitable for the NA server culture. Too many people who see it as just another achievement, mount, and flair for their name that they want and will follow the optimal path to get.

There should be a way for people to tell others "hey I'm here if you have questions and I won't treat you like you're stupid", but it can't have prestige or rewards linked to it or it becomes a toss up of whether you're going to get someone helpful.. or an achievement hunter.

there will be a LOT less of them, for sure, but they'll genuinely be what people are looking for.

[Voidedge_Ragna]

The should be a separation perhaps, I'm not saying every trade mentor is worse then a combat mentor BUT.

Requirements for Trade:
80 Crafter (quests dont matter)
80 Gatherer (quests dont matter)
300 collectables gathered (doesnt need to be high lv ones, 1/1000 collectablitly is enough)
100 collectables crafted (i think you can use any of the hand in ones which cost like 100 gil and just chain craft those)

Now combat Mentors:
Complete 1,000 dungeons, raids, or trials.
Receive 1,500 player commendations.
Complete any level 80 tank role quest.
Complete any level 80 healer role quest.
Complete any level 80 melee DPS or ranged DPS role quest.

Now to sum this up, i believe ANY lv 80 person can be crafter mentor from scratch in 1 weekend, to spike this higher its reasonable to be a crafter mentor the moment diadem unlocks, which is at the end of HW. You could realistically be a sprout and trade mentor at the same time. Im currently doing this on a project ... i started from lv 1 on a fresh char and no outside help, im 2 days of playtime in and on 3.3 with a lv 15 crafter and lv 45 fisher. Im reasonably expecting to be a mentor with 3 days playtime.

So what does this mean?
Everyone can be a tradementor no matter how long you play, with 0 quality control ... theres no quality for combat either but the 1000 duties, 3 jobs and 1500 commendations at least means you have played a while longer.

Does it matter?
I believe it does, on multiple levels.

Most questions in NN are combat related and maybe 10% are crafted related (at best)
Its usually about a 90%/10% split of Trade/combat mentors since the room is limited to 100ppl.

Personal opinions, so take from this what you want.

Random chatting can be part of NN but its usually trade mentors who use NN as their personal FC ... its not.
I've met multiple Trade mentors who give constant combat advice and when its correct counter with "well im not a combat mentor" ... but why did you answer it then.

A new player has no idea if a person is a crafter mentor or a combat mentor or a pvp mentor or a full mentor, they see the crown and its "mentor", because of this i dont think it matters how hard the combat requirement is if you can weasel into the NN as a tradementor for free.

NN should be split into Combat and Trade, how that's best accomplished I'm not sure.

For whats its worth, i have 7k commendation and the mentor mount, i've seen my fair share of pain.

[Darkmoonrise]

The problem is not if they are too easy or not, the problem is that they do not reflect the ability of the player to be a mentor or not. The only thing those requirements measure is for how long you play the game, which is a totally different thing.

[DontReadThis]

Yes they are.

You'd think comms would be the filter as you'd expect the most helpful people to get them, but that isn't the case. Tanks and healers get comms just for existing, and people are more than glad to toss their comms to people wearing funny glams or with funny names.

I get multiple comms in nearly every duty no matter how well I do or how much I talk simply because I play a nearly-naked male roe. I even have enough comms for the parade chocobo mount despite only having played this game for less than a year.

None of the other requirements required that much effort either, and now I am the naked broe who stalks the mentor roulette, giving headpats to all the sprouts, falafels, and other scantily-clad buff bros I encounter.
/pet

[Liam_Harper]

I see battle mentors more like a "I've played this game long enough time to get enough commendations!"-badge.

It's not just about playing the game for a long time though. I've played the game for years and I have maybe 700 comms. The reason being, you don't get comms from Party Finder, Statics, Squadrons, Trusts, running with FC, friends, or content like DR. Some players avoid Duty Finder like the plague, but still have considerable experience with the game.

[BluexBird]

I think this isn't an issue worth bothering with. It feels like you're trying to make the mentor system be something more than it already is, when ultimately there isn't really a good reason for this to happen. I fail to believe that there are actual players wandering around towns or in a duty who, upon seeing the mentor tag, decide to ask for help SIMPLY BECAUSE of the mentor tag. More often than not, those players probably won't realize what that icon next to the name even means. Sometimes I get Ms. Moon Lady in my Trial Roulettes, and I just sit and watch as everyone fails a specific mechanic. The people who then ask what's going on aren't really asking the MENTORS for help - they're asking anyone. And you don't have to be a mentor to answer - you either know the mechanic or not. So it literally doesn't really matter if you have the tag or not.

Now that that's out of the way... I'd like to move on to the second part of my point. The biggest impact mentors have is in the Novice Network. And I'd wager it's why a lot of people choose to become mentors in the first place. You get to help people there, sure. But more often than not it just gets treated as a massive linkshell where you can chat casually and talk about the game. If and when someone asks for help, you have people there to help you, so I don't see why making it harder for people to get in there is a necessity.

In conclusion, at the end of the day, it's really not that big of a deal. If your problem was perhaps about Novice Network reform, then I might see where you were coming from. Yeah, some mentors don't do anything to help. But at that point, you might as well just remove all requirements and make it a volunteer system that you just sign up for. No matter what requirements get added, there will always be certain people who will just get it just to say they did.