Well, I don't use IRC and I think I learned the game well enough.
That being said, I don't know that the mentor class really does what it was set out to do. Really it would be better if everyone who was experienced could simply click "I'll help mentor this new player" when a new player is added. Just make it a flag. New players don't show up often enough that people are going to build a character around being a mentor (like they can around hero or infiltrator), but that doesn't mean that these players couldn't have a thing or two to teach.
So thusly, set the lessons people should know as flags. Each player can choose one or more flags (say, one flag for every 5 family fame points, starting at 10 fame), and at the end the player ranks their competency in each field.
I know, hippy "It takes a village" stuff, but weak mentor rewards could then be gained by everyone, so they don't need to be strengthened and people would want to buy in and train new players.
