Delete the Mentor system or rework it.

[Ath192]

In my server it isnt flawed. Most people get their questions answered and occasionally hands on help. There's a few personalities in it but by and large its working as intended, with the added chatter that keeps the game from feeling too solo.

[Jeeqbit]

Yep. When I started none of them with a crown would even talk to me, not even to cuss me out. XD Ya I don't think that system works. Isnt helping answer a question kinda what that system is for?

Did you ask a question and where did you ask it?

[Avidria]

This is always funny to me because I have name plates turned off entirely
I have no idea who is or isn't a mentor and I don't care, if someone's a jerk I blacklist them lmao
No idea what they could do to improve the system other than y'know. The generally suggested changing the crown icon (though I personally think the crown is already kinda ugly) and removing the mount reward (which good lord 2000 roulettes at all sounds like torture let alone 2000 roulettes that include extremes, that's like an anti incentive for me lmao)

[hagare]

I don't like this optional thing.
Please delete it.
What about no.
Tonberry NN is fun.
And helpful

[Veranolth]

To be honest when I first started I was told to never join Novice Network because it was that bad, and that was 2 years ago. Don't think asking to delete the entire mentor system is fair though. Maybe there's something they could do with NN.

[VirusOnline]

To be honest when I first started I was told to never join Novice Network because it was that bad, and that was 2 years ago. Don't think asking to delete the entire mentor system is fair though. Maybe there's something they could do with NN.

NN is the definition of anarchy.
Probably half oligarchy and half anarchy.
But mostly also a democracy with a hint of gerrymandering.

Basically, it's not to be trusted. Sprouts asking questions in limsoland is enough and imo is more of a "safe space" than is one with crowns and leafs which probably create more of a divide.

ps: i never wear my crown bc it feels like a mark of shame and also i don't wish to further divide myself from a leaf bc i was once thems ; -;

[Packetdancer]

My suggestion is to remove the invite system and mentor/novice requirements, but make it toggle OFF automatically and have players manually sign into it each time they login. That way only players who want to participate will join, so you don't have the current situation where it's hard capped at 100 mentors who joined automatically and aren't chatting, and 100+ novices who joined automatically but forgot the channel even exists and whose only interaction with it is to send mistells and macro spam.

The issue is that if you allow folks freely onto the Novice Network without invites -- including free trial accounts, who fall smack in the target audience likely to want to be there -- you get a specific problem. And the problem is not theoretical, because I'm told the problem is why the novice network is now invite-only. (Though it evidently happened during the stretch that I wasn't playing, so I did not see it firsthand.)

Basically, you know all those bots with the names that look like they're either a keyboard smash or a half-assed attempt at a canon-compliant Sea Wolf Roegadyn name? When folks were joined to the channel automatically, on some servers it evidently became an ocean of...

[Novice] Asfdgqaaouih Bapwreg: PVP SQUIRREL BARN DOTCOM (REMOVE ANIMAL) SLASH FF FOURTEEN (USE NUMBER) -- BEST ALL GIL SALES LOW RATES! BUY LOOTS EXTREME!
[Novice] Igrgoqwerqwei Yewetrq: 17 million gil lottery giveaway, go to URL-that's-totally-the-forum-and-not-a-phishing-site to enter!!
[Novice] Pwertweu Nertfng: BUY BEST LOOT CHEAP CLEARS GIL BANKMOOGLE DOG COM (CHANGE DOG TO .) BUY NOW SALE!!!

...and so on. And banning one of the bots did nothing because they'd just make a new free trial account, join the Novice Network, and keep going. Which basically rendered the novice network functionally useless, as anyone who would actually use it fled for the sake of their sanity.

[TheGrimace]

Squirrel Barn is the absolute best place for bank moogling, to be absolutely fair.

[dspguy]

Maybe other servers are different, but I find that the Novice Network on my server is very helpful to new and returning players. I can't even the count the number of new/returning players that were sad when their player status was going to change and they'd lose access. Many players form bonds even with mentors or through mentors - maybe join their FC, friends list, etc.

Novice Network is what the community makes of it.

[hynaku]

I have never seen one bad mentor that is stuck up. Most the mentors I see help ones out all the time with crafting and duties. Maybe it is just mentors in your datacenter that is bad.