Inviting players to the Novice Network

[isevery]

As part of the duties of accepting mentorship, we are instructed to invite players to the NN using the Player Search function - however there is one colossal flaw that I feel massively degrades the mentorship experience.

• The person you invite can both see who invited them, AND send them a tell.

This has led to me receiving *numerous* unpleasant /tell's over inviting people, nothing outwardly offensive enough to warrant reporting, but enough that inviting people feels like a chore.

If SE could consider removing that information from the invite prompt, it would at least spare me from people on alt characters from being able to verbally harass me for doing as I have been asked.

Other flaws with the system have been discussed at length, such as NN being the default channel for sprouts, not making sprouts aware that the system even exists, not having the ability to remove mentors or sprouts who are persistent in degrading the quality of conversation deliberately etc. however I feel like after 10 years, the system is largely abandoned by the Devs and we are left alone to deal with a poor implementation of what could be a genuinely helpful tool.

[Jeeqbit]

I agree that if you invite a lot of people to the Novice Network, you get a lot of declines and sometimes responses from people who have a passionate hatred of the Novice Network. But you get a decent share of genuine sprouts accept the invite and participate in it. It does feel like you're inviting a drop in the ocean of all the sprouts though, since a few hours later completely different people are logged in so it's a completely fresh sprout list.

As you said, SE specifically says it is a mentor's job to use Player Search and invite sprouts to the Novice Network. This is because when they used to auto-invite them, it invited RMT bots and it was a disaster. They still automatically invite people if they are away for 45 days and return to the game, which everyone is likely to do at some point, so eventually they usually get into the Novice Network, but by then they might have quit the game due to not having players to guide them.

I think they mention the Novice Network somewhere, such as before starting Sastasha at Hall of the Novice or The Smith, but it requires them to investigate and talk to these NPCs quite thoroughly.

[Collin_Sky]

This has led to me receiving *numerous* unpleasant /tell's over inviting people, nothing outwardly offensive enough to warrant reporting, but enough that inviting people feels like a chore.

This is a you problem. It is important for a sprout to be able to ask questions and send you a /tell because you should be willing and able to answer questions they may have about getting an invite to NN. I have gotten them before, and it's usually the case where they need clarification on what NN actually is before joining.

It's also just a lot more friendly to know a player asked you to join rather than the game randomly giving them a popup asking them to join a chat channel.

[isevery]

This is a you problem. It is important for a sprout to be able to ask questions and send you a /tell because you should be willing and able to answer questions they may have about getting an invite to NN. I have gotten them before, and it's usually the case where they need clarification on what NN actually is before joining.

It's also just a lot more friendly to know a player asked you to join rather than the game randomly giving them a popup asking them to join a chat channel.

I strongly disagree, I should not have my tell's regarded as open season for abuse from players because I am doing as I have been asked.
I am MORE than happy to explain what the channel does, and indeed - how to leave it and stop receiving invites *in* the novice network. At least that way, people have to own their words in front of 350+ people (at least on my server). It is no more onerous to ask that question politely in an appropriate channel, than it is to be a keyboard warrior and send me hate mail for acting out of genuine desire to see people thrive and find community in the game.

Edit; I have had a few people genuinely ask what it is, and they of course get a welcoming reply and all the help they ask for. But that's also kind of what the network is for in the first place. I think that particular aspect of the invite system just doesn't hold enough value compared to its downsides.

Edit 2: I also don't agree that seeing a player invited you is an improvement over a system message. The NN is an official channel, the amount of people that have thought I was inviting them to an FC is... very very high.

[Collin_Sky]

I strongly disagree, I should not have my tell's regarded as open season for abuse from players because I am doing as I have been asked.
I am MORE than happy to explain what the channel does, and indeed - how to leave it and stop receiving invites *in* the novice network. At least that way, people have to own their words in front of 350+ people (at least on my server). It is no more onerous to ask that question politely in an appropriate channel, than it is to be a keyboard warrior and send me hate mail for acting out of genuine desire to see people thrive and find community in the game.

Edit; I have had a few people genuinely ask what it is, and they of course get a welcoming reply and all the help they ask for. But that's also kind of what the network is for in the first place. I think that particular aspect of the invite system just doesn't hold enough value compared to its downsides.

Edit 2: I also don't agree that seeing a player invited you is an improvement over a system message. The NN is an official channel, the amount of people that have thought I was inviting them to an FC is... very very high.

Nah.
This is entirely a you problem. It is widely regarded by the community as an annoyance when people run around spamming people with unsolicited FC invites. By the sounds of things, you are doing the exact same thing, but with NN invites.

1. This is kinda rude.
2. You're inviting this upon yourself.
3. You want to continue doing this rude behaviour and suffer none of the consequences of doing so.

[isevery]

I agree FC invite spam is rude, and an annoyance.
I agree that declining an invite should have some way to prevent being re-invited unless you want it.
I do not agree that acting in accordance with SE's own guidance should come with a handy button to privately message me whatever unpleasantries you wish. If the ingame implementation doesn't permit me to see that someone has already been invited and declined, then how can I possibly be held accountable for that same player receiving a second invite from me, or another mentor at a later date? Am I expected to memorise every player that i have ever invited, when player search returns in excess of 200 characters, which changes dynamically as players log in and out?

I'm not "trying to avoid consequences", as I do not see that verbal abuse as an intended or reasonable response to have to another player trying to invite you to an official game system.
If you want to argue that there is a valid use for mentor's PC names being attached to NN invites, I'd love to discuss that - but I cannot see that it's a feature that exists for the net benefit of anyone in the system as it stands, nor do I think that "Just don't invite people if you don't want to get shouted at" is a constructive comment to make.

[Valence]

1. This is kinda rude.
3. You want to continue doing this rude behaviour and suffer none of the consequences of doing so.

There is no other way around when you have to invite hundreds of them on your own. The very reason our NN is active and alive is for that specific reason.
I have received some aggressive tells albeit uncommon, and most of the time it's players angry thinking it's yet another invite spamm from FCs, which are the real problem. I don't care much though, most of the tells I get are friendly.

[Lilapop]

This is a you problem. It is important for a sprout to be able to ask questions and send you a /tell because you should be willing and able to answer questions they may have about getting an invite to NN. I have gotten them before, and it's usually the case where they need clarification on what NN actually is before joining.

It's also just a lot more friendly to know a player asked you to join rather than the game randomly giving them a popup asking them to join a chat channel.

"u getting insulted for doing what the game tells u to do as a mentor is a u problem XD"

Lemme pull out one of your favorites... you must be trolling.

[CaedemSanguis]

well ask people first before inviting them ?

[Jeeqbit]

It actually brings up a prompt explaining what the Novice Network is, and asks them if they want to join or not.

There is also a / command that can be used to make you immune to NN invites.