Veterans: How do you pass on years of FFXIV knowledge

[Nyastra]

I've been playing for nearly 7 years and my fiancé is brand new. I have been trying really hard to help where I can without overwhelming him. I can't exactly dump 7 years of knowledge on him. I am also not the ultimate lore book and need him to do his own research and reading. We are just about 30 quests away from Heavensward.

He is learning slowly, but not really exploring on his own - instead relying on my guidance, which is ok in some cases but I am not the best guide there is. It made me realize just how much I had learned simply from doing or trial and error.

On another note, I've also noticed the new player experience when it comes to dungeon runs are something else. People are very quick to trash sprouts or say they're bots etc etc.

What do I even do? Have any of you needed to "guide" a friend or someone like this?

EDIT:
He is also an ex-WoW player, so while he has the general MMO thing going on, he's got a whole set of different things to learn coming from WoW to FFXIV. I've tried explaining things in WoW terms at times.

[Masha_Awandah]

I usually keep it short. Too much information can be more confusing than helpful. Personally I'd recommend giving info only when asked about something specific, or when it becomes relevant. Some pre-emptive advice, such as saving Poetics for Idyllshire for example can be given in advance.

[Carin-Eri]

I've been playing for nearly 7 years and my fiancé is brand new. I have been trying really hard to help where I can without overwhelming him. I can't exactly dump 7 years of knowledge on him. I am also not the ultimate lore book and need him to do his own research and reading. We are just about 30 quests away from Heavensward.

He is learning slowly, but not really exploring on his own - instead relying on my guidance, which is ok in some cases but I am not the best guide there is. It made me realize just how much I had learned simply from doing or trial and error.

On another note, I've also noticed the new player experience when it comes to dungeon runs are something else. People are very quick to trash sprouts or say they're bots etc etc.

What do I even do? Have any of you needed to "guide" a friend or someone like this?

Admittedly surprised at the new player experience you describe - the game has a reputation for being supportive toward sprouts and, beyond some very rare encounters with arrogant elitists who think everyone is doing everything wrong, have never really experienced anything like that.

As you say though - a great deal of it is trial and error from first-hand experience.

[Jeeqbit]

As someone that teaches and mentors people all the time in FCs, the novice network, discord, and even here on the forums, I can just tell you one thing with certainty: you can't pass on all your knowledge in one go. This is true for any MMORPG, especially one that has lasted for 10 years. These type of games have far too many things to just teach them all their rabbit holes, technicalities, ins and outs, every little unique thing about each dungeon or content type, without overwhelming them.

If you explain too many things at once it is overwhelming them and it must be done bit by bit. For example, snapshotting, paying attention to cast bars, how to mit as a tank, to sprint out of battle between packs to get 20s on Sprint, provoke/shirk, interrupts, positioning, how to optimize their HUD layout, every dungeon mechanic that you need to deal with in an unusual way or have unusual timing for, turning away a bit beyond the cast bar for doom in WoD, that you can drag all mobs to boss and stand in the purple area in Dzemael, the different raid classifications, the difference between max level and leveling dungeons... etc.

You see, when you explain every nook and cranny of the game, it is overwhelming like my previous paragraph was, and that's barely scratching the surface of the game. It doesn't matter how much people want to say the game is simple now. The fact is there is 10 years worth of content and jank to navigate and this is true of many MMORPGs that have been around a long time. You just need to explain things to them slowly. 3-5 things per day. It's the only way.

In the Novice Network, I try to limit how many things I explain to people each day. Often the same people are there the next day, so I just answer things when they come up. I also give them space to just figure things out themselves. A lot of people don't understand that it's okay to lack knowledge and to learn from trial and error. It's okay to let them do the same. If they have a question, or are confused, you can explain it, but you should be content to let them mess up first.

For example, you can let them just do a dungeon fight. If, after the fight, they didn't understand something or were confused, you could point it out. They will understand it better *after they've actually done it*.

[Nyastra]

Admittedly surprised at the new player experience you describe - the game has a reputation for being supportive toward sprouts and, beyond some very rare encounters with arrogant elitists who think everyone is doing everything wrong, have never really experienced anything like that.

As you say though - a great deal of it is trial and error from first-hand experience.

Likewise, I too was surprised. We did Sastasha which is obviously the first dungeon in the game, and one person's reaction was instantly "Our tank is a bot" to which I had to say, no our tank is a new player. Similarly to that, Aurum Vale (golly we know, we know) our one DPS was terribly toxic the whole time based on how our tank was pulling few mobs at a time. I ended up vote kicking him when he kept trashing everyone else including me though. Maybe it's an EU thing? I don't know. My first experience with this game was based on NA servers, it's only this year that I moved to EU.

[Nyastra]

As someone that teaches and mentors people all the time in FCs, the novice network, discord, and even here on the forums, I can just tell you one thing with certainty: you can't pass on all your knowledge in one go. This is true for any MMORPG, especially one that has lasted for 10 years. These type of games have far too many things to just teach them all their rabbit holes, technicalities, ins and outs, every little unique thing about each dungeon or content type, without overwhelming them.

If you explain too many things at once it is overwhelming them and it must be done bit by bit. For example, snapshotting, paying attention to cast bars, how to mit as a tank, to sprint out of battle between packs to get 20s on Sprint, provoke/shirk, interrupts, positioning, how to optimize their HUD layout, every dungeon mechanic that you need to deal with in an unusual way or have unusual timing for, turning away a bit beyond the cast bar for doom in WoD, that you can drag all mobs to boss and stand in the purple area in Dzemael, the different raid classifications, the difference between max level and leveling dungeons... etc.

You see, when you explain every nook and cranny of the game, it is overwhelming like my previous paragraph was, and that's barely scratching the surface of the game. It doesn't matter how much people want to say the game is simple now. The fact is there is 10 years worth of content and jank to navigate and this is true of many MMORPGs that have been around a long time. You just need to explain things to them slowly. 3-5 things per day. It's the only way.

In the Novice Network, I try to limit how many things I explain to people each day. Often the same people are there the next day, so I just answer things when they come up. I also give them space to just figure things out themselves. A lot of people don't understand that it's okay to lack knowledge and to learn from trial and error. It's okay to let them do the same. If they have a question, or are confused, you can explain it, but you should be content to let them mess up first.

For example, you can let them just do a dungeon fight. If, after the fight, they didn't understand something or were confused, you could point it out. They will understand it better *after they've actually done it*.

Thank you for this. I think I'll try a similar approach. I've been explaining dungeons or tricky things beforehand but rarely have results so it might be easier to just let them get their own feel for mechanics and explain when they don't understand.

[Asari5]

im kinda shocked how many people throw information bombs at new players while thinking of themselves as helpful.

some dont even pay attention at what point the player is. some even come with max lvl rotation stuff when the new player isnt even 50

[Nyastra]

im kinda shocked how many people throw information bombs at new players while thinking of themseleves to be helpful.

some dont even pay attention at what point the player is. some even come with max lvl rotation stuff when the new player isnt even 50

Yeah this is what I don't *want* to do. For example, he was unsure of how to have his hotbar set up, so I explained mine but only using the abilities he had available at the time. I also explained that it's a very personal thing and that it will change over time as he feels what works for him.

[Carin-Eri]

Likewise, I too was surprised. We did Sastasha which is obviously the first dungeon in the game, and one person's reaction was instantly "Our tank is a bot" to which I had to say, no our tank is a new player. Similarly to that, Aurum Vale (golly we know, we know) our one DPS was terribly toxic the whole time based on how our tank was pulling few mobs at a time. I ended up vote kicking him when he kept trashing everyone else including me though. Maybe it's an EU thing? I don't know. My first experience with this game was based on NA servers, it's only this year that I moved to EU.

Entirely possible that the first one was a troll? I mean, the 'Sprout' over the player's head should give some indication, as well as them stopping for cutscenes.

I guess one useful piece of advice - one that I was given when I was a Sprout - would be to have your fiancé say, in chat, "First time" (or words to that effect); that way the rest of the team know from the onset and you don't need to rely on them being attentive enough to notice by themselves.

[Exmo]

Generally, answer questions only when asked.
Offer the bare minimum of guidance unless requested.

However, do offer guidance on things like etiquette. Always say hi at the start of a duty and gg at the end. Tell people when it's your first time so they'll be more lenient and patient.
Advise on certain QoL settings like disabling the resident evil tank controls, which traps a lot of sprouts. Or how to reorganize the HUD, without it turning into a lesson on how their HUD should look according to your own preference.