I hadn't seen anything that said that Mentoring was the problem. I think the problem is that people join, click a few buttons, don't see anything happen, and sign out.
Also, our mentoring system is character based, when it's really a player to player issue, yes?
That said, here's how I would improve the mentoring system:
Mentoring is divided into seven categories:
* Recruitment and maintenance of units
* Basic combat tactics and unit settings
* Realm hierarchy, allegiance and oath
* The military chain of command - armies, marshals, and the general
* The inalienable rights
* "Out-of-Character" - separation between each character, separation between characters and players
*Other
Players who have played for less than 1 year would have a link on their family page saying "ask a question" or something similar. On that page, they could read an FAQ--consisting of the most commonly asked questions, of course--as well as a list of answers. The same question could have multiple answers--preferably a short answer, a longer answer, and a link to the relevant wiki pages. Also, the new player would choose a category from the above list and ask their question.
I would present each player (not character) who has played for over 1 year have a section on the family options page called mentoring. They would be able to check a checkbox for each category that they are interested in answering mentoring questions for. When a new player asks a question using the above system, that question would be answerable through the mentoring page. Only questions that they want to answer (using the checkbox system) are answered.
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Another alternative would be to have a big "ask a question" button, that sends the player to the forums. This could be used by all players.
