So as I'm sure people have noticed, I've been seeing ALOT of upticks in players new and old complaining about negative Mentor player interactions.
Its really gotten me to thinking about WHY the Mentor Network seems to be full of jerks/impatient people, and what can be done to improve it.
Whats Wrong With It?:
In regards to WHY the network seems to attract some selfish/toxic people, to something that should be an inherently altruistic endeavor, can be broken down to a few points, at least in my opinion.
All this factors in to basically people getting a fancy symbol next to their name,
a chance to get a rare exclusive mount, for basically just playing the game normally, and not having to do anything outside the norm. Theres no real penalty for literally ignoring the implied responsibility of the crown, and just continuing to use the Mentor Que like another daily grind button.
How Can We Fix It?:
There are actually a few things I can personally see fixing alot of the problems with the current system, and not making it impossible for anyone to want to participate.
TL;DR: The current system is too easy to get into, and gives too much flashy elusive stuff that tempts non-serious mentors into the system, leading to toxic behavior, but a reworked system should still be worth the time of day of people who would actually help people, especially if requirements are boosted.
This is my two cents (maybe a bit more than that lol) on the subject, and I'd love to hear what other people think. Thanks in advance for your time!
submitted by /u/Darksol4039
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Its really gotten me to thinking about WHY the Mentor Network seems to be full of jerks/impatient people, and what can be done to improve it.
Whats Wrong With It?:
In regards to WHY the network seems to attract some selfish/toxic people, to something that should be an inherently altruistic endeavor, can be broken down to a few points, at least in my opinion.
The CROWN: This is a huge factor in attracting people who simply want to have a status symbol, and quite literally lord it above their peers.
Exclusive reward: There is an exclusive mount tied directly to the system, that would make people who aren't actually interested in helping other players participate in the system to "grind" out this reward.
Ease of Attainment: As someone who isn't really all that qualified to teach anyone how to REALLY play the game, especially in Extreme+ content (if you check my post history, I'm basically a Green-Blue Parser on my best days) I've basically already achieved most of the requirements for a Mentor position, and I started playing a few weeks after Shadowbringers released. (765 comms, 1,142 instances, and the 80 role quests done) and I don't really play the game outside of weekends.
All this factors in to basically people getting a fancy symbol next to their name,
a chance to get a rare exclusive mount, for basically just playing the game normally, and not having to do anything outside the norm. Theres no real penalty for literally ignoring the implied responsibility of the crown, and just continuing to use the Mentor Que like another daily grind button.
How Can We Fix It?:
There are actually a few things I can personally see fixing alot of the problems with the current system, and not making it impossible for anyone to want to participate.
Mentor Roulette/Comms: Rework some of the features for this roulette to favor the party and Mentors time more. Have clears that had a Mentor join an in-progress Duty give an extra nice bonus to all gains. Add a separate Comm pop-up that asks if the Mentor was helpful, and have that track as a separate Reputation, and maybe give small fun rewards for certain milestones, but nothing that can't be gained via normal play (maybe turn ins for some General Purpose Dyes or something) Maybe make Blacklists obtained as a Mentor add up to a GM reviewing your status as a Mentor.(unsure how fair that is)
Removal of Exclusive Rewards: As long as there are exclusive rewards behind the Mentor system, there will be people who have no interest in actually helping anyone trying to gain those rewards in it. As long as the system only gives extra helpings of normal play rewards, there wont be as much of a rush for people who don't care to participate in the system.
The Crown: Removal of the Crown symbol outside of anywhere but the Mentor Roulette que itself would do wonders for removing Mentor as a shiny status symbol. Novice Network can allow Mentors to have a separate text color, to better distinguish who's who. You don't need to be marked as an Expert outside of situations were you are needed as one.
Harder Requirements: Most Mentor requirements sort of naturally occur as most players progress thru the game, getting comms,clearing instances, and leveling classes. This can lead to Mentors that never even attempted Extreme content, that join roulettes can that very easily dump them into that content with people who are trying to learn. Im not entirely sure what a fair solution is, but having a system like the Expert roulette that requires certain high end content to be cleared to be active would help ensure that Mentors are qualified, and remain so, hopefully removing frustration on both ends.
I don't think the best fix is to literally remove rewards entirely, so almost no one but the most altruistic and dedicated Mentors would donate their time to the system. We all play an MMO, and time is essentially the only resource we can't grind more of, so I think a Mentor should receive some sort of reward for spending their time to help new players. But I do believe that the current system gives too much, too easily, and that leads to too many people who don't care about cultivating a positive new player experience participating in it. There should be a way to balance this system that makes Mentors time worth spending in it, without making people who aren't going to take it seriously want to participate despite that.
TL;DR: The current system is too easy to get into, and gives too much flashy elusive stuff that tempts non-serious mentors into the system, leading to toxic behavior, but a reworked system should still be worth the time of day of people who would actually help people, especially if requirements are boosted.
This is my two cents (maybe a bit more than that lol) on the subject, and I'd love to hear what other people think. Thanks in advance for your time!
submitted by /u/Darksol4039
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