Change to Mentor position

[Ays]

Are we in agreement to brainstorm changes needed to the mentor aspect of the game?  Once all of the ideas are gathered, perhaps a master plan should be created. 

Please look at Indirik's summary list and add/change anything you wish.

Having someone right in your realm, that is easily accessible in-game, who is dedicated to helping *you*, is a very good idea.

• Remove the Mentor subclass.
• Make mentoring an option selectable by any character in the realm that has been playing the game for more than 6 months. (Too long? Maybe 3 months? Anyway, more than 30 days.)
• Allow rulers to appoint official mentors for the realm.
• Create a Newbie Corner (probably with a different name...) on the forum dedicated to basic game play questions, geared specifically at new players. All new players should get an IG message to go there and ask questions.
• Mentors who receive too many bad reviews from the students should be removed from the Mentor program.
• Some way to encourage more mentor/student communications. Maybe put the Mentor/Student channel options at the top of the Messages screen, possibly highlighted in a separate colored box, with some explanatory text directing the to ask questions of their mentors? Also, put a link to the forum Newbie Corner there, too.

I agree with Indirik's list and am adding:

• updating wiki using a team of  realm-appointed mentors (since the group is keen on this idea
• use a private forum for the mentor group to collaborate final product.
• ingame sortable chart to track student progress and timing of lessons.

If wiki is used,  the format should follow the topics of the mentor lessons so that mentors can 'assign' wiki reading sections.  This would also be a sweet way to set up the threads in the forum.   I would love to get more people using the forums.  What better way than encouraging our mentors and students ?

[songqu88@gmail.com]

I'd like to support keeping mentor points and the relevant rewards.

[Chenier]

I doubt that someone who just learned the ropes on one continent in 14 days would emigrate to another...  I bet most who immigrate already know most, if not all, the basic mechanics.

I don't agree, as this assumes that most people just stumble onto the game.

I left AT and EC for BT as soon as I could. 14 days for AT, and a bit longer for EC as finding the gold was a bit harder. Why? Because the guy that invited me to the game played there, and recommended that I join him.

Then, all of the people I've invited to the game did the same. Sometimes just 1 character, and the third always necessarily stayed behind, but they too migrated to BT after 14 days.

I think invitations play a huge role in recruitment, and that these players are much more likely to stick around than everyone else. In fact, I think it's a question that should be asked when one joins the game, for statistical reasons.

[Foundation]

I don't agree, as this assumes that most people just stumble onto the game.

I left AT and EC for BT as soon as I could. 14 days for AT, and a bit longer for EC as finding the gold was a bit harder. Why? Because the guy that invited me to the game played there, and recommended that I join him.

Then, all of the people I've invited to the game did the same. Sometimes just 1 character, and the third always necessarily stayed behind, but they too migrated to BT after 14 days.

I think invitations play a huge role in recruitment, and that these players are much more likely to stick around than everyone else. In fact, I think it's a question that should be asked when one joins the game, for statistical reasons.

That's only for BT, where you can only immigrate to.  I was referring to "real" immigration, where you immigrate because you feel that your realm is not fun or you want to experience other realms.

[Ays]

Chenier, are you suggesting that the student option should be open to immigrants? 
Or,  that  the option should be open X days,  regardless of realm movements? 

[songqu88@gmail.com]

I can't speak for Chenier, but I say heck yeah for having mentoring options open for immigrations as well. BT mentors need some love too!

[Indirik]

• updating wiki using a team of  realm-appointed mentors (since the group is keen on this idea
• use a private forum for the mentor group to collaborate final product.

Anyone can update the wiki. You think something needs fixed/changed/updated? Go for it! If you need some kind of special help, post in the wiki section of this forum. I don't think you will get, or need, any kind of specific support because you're an IG-appointed Mentor. The wiki is not intended to be that way, nor should it be that way. You don't need some official blessing from the game to go ahead with your project.

In the same vein, I can almost guarantee that you won't get any kind of private forum for in-game appointed mentors to collaborate. But again, you shouldn't need it. Just start a thread on mentor collaboration, and go for it.

Trying to exclude people from the community project is counter-productive. This is a community-driven game. Why should we exclude community members from helping? You would probably get some help from people in the community that can't be, or don't want to be, mentors for whatever reason. I don't see any reason to prevent the players from contributing just because their characters can't participate in the IG mentor program. Also, you may or may not get support from the IG-appointed mentors. There's a good chance that some of the people that get appointed won't care about the wiki, or know anything about contributing to it.

[Bedwyr]

I've always thought there were three jobs I wanted to see done (though this doesn't need to be done by Mentors per se):

1. Help new players understand the game OOC.
2. Help new players learn how IC interactions work.
3. Help new characters to the realm understand how the realm works.

Mentors currently are supposed to do 1 and 2, and I think several of the changes proposed here (updating the wikis, thank god, as well as making it selectable by any character) will help a lot with them.

I think the "ruler/realm appointed mentors" bit should probably be limited to point 3, though.  Hell, you could make Chief Mentor a council position charged with maintaining and promoting realm culture, which by necessity includes inducting new characters into the realm's customs and practices.  And response from that would help a great deal with the rankings of realms suggested in a variety of places.  Chief Mentor doesn't contact you or respond to your questions about the realm?  That's a bad, bad thing.

[Foundation]

I've always thought there were three jobs I wanted to see done (though this doesn't need to be done by Mentors per se):

1. Help new players understand the game OOC.
2. Help new players learn how IC interactions work.
3. Help new characters to the realm understand how the realm works.

Mentors currently are supposed to do 1 and 2, and I think several of the changes proposed here (updating the wikis, thank god, as well as making it selectable by any character) will help a lot with them.

I think the "ruler/realm appointed mentors" bit should probably be limited to point 3, though.  Hell, you could make Chief Mentor a council position charged with maintaining and promoting realm culture, which by necessity includes inducting new characters into the realm's customs and practices.  And response from that would help a great deal with the rankings of realms suggested in a variety of places.  Chief Mentor doesn't contact you or respond to your questions about the realm?  That's a bad, bad thing.

I think that 1 and 2 should be done for all new players, and 3 should be delegated to Mentors, who have specific understandings of their own realm.  After all, there are quite a few ground rules and customs that I think all realms and players abide by... or are supposed to abide by.

[songqu88@gmail.com]

So number 3 on that list would apply to all new characters, regardless of how long the player's been around? I think that would be a good idea, since the mentor isn't just an OOC job to teach new players. While veteran players might know exactly what to do, there are always things that aren't known. Furthermore, the character certainly shouldn't know everything. But to avoid boredom on the player's part, it'll be up to the mentor to make sure the IC interactions are still interesting. Well, that's one of the things that'll separate great mentors from good mentors and so on.

[loren]

Well, as someone who played a mentor for a really long time with Gregor (I think I had 10+ students, most/half of whom are still around years later) I have to say that the new students seem only interested in people with titles (Evidence Serko who is now also a mentor, but out of the four students in Astrum not a single one has replied to his letters).

I originally wrote Gregor's "book" as a supplement to what I was already writing to students.  But it does need to be interactive, and more importantly it needs to give new players a sense of what's going on politically, and militarily.  Giving a brief overview of history helps new people out a ton, and makes them feel like they can join in.

[Zakilevo]

So far only one replied to my letter Well I've been sending lessons to 2 students in Astrum. Hope it helps them. I think the problem is that mentors are not there when new players just joined. If they have 0 days after resister, they should automatically become students and get a letter for tutorial.

[Igelfeld]

I think this got lost somewhere along the way, but an automatic message sent from the mentors to the students would be a good way to establish contact right away.

[Ays]

To keep us all on-track ... here is a summary:

• Remove the Mentor subclass.
• Make mentoring an option selectable by any character in the realm that has been playing the game for more than 6 months. (Too long? Maybe 3 months? Anyway, more than 30 days.)
• Allow rulers to appoint official mentor(s) -- or Chief Mentor -- for the realm.
• Create a Newbie Corner (probably with a different name...) on the forum dedicated to basic game play questions, geared specifically at new players. All new players should get an IG message to go there and ask questions.
• Mentors who receive too many bad reviews from the students should be removed from the Mentor program.
• Some way to encourage more mentor/student communications. Maybe put the Mentor/Student channel options at the top of the Messages screen, possibly highlighted in a separate colored box, with some explanatory text directing the to ask questions of their mentors? Also, put a link to the forum Newbie Corner there, too.
• Update wiki  (in a community-based and inclusive manner) to include non-realm specific mentor/student page.
• Ingame sortable chart to track student progress and timing of lessons.
• Maintain mentor points and relevant rewards.
• Open mentor option to immigrants -- or perhaps any new character (without family in realm) as Bedwyr suggests that a mentor's main task is realm customs and practices.
• Make an automatic IG mentor message to guide new players to resources (forum, wiki, student subclass).

I have to say that the new students seem only interested in people with titles.

This is so true, and another good reason why rulers should appoint -- and the realm leadership team should interact -- with mentors.  It sends a clear message to new players to listen ... because mentors are important and BM is a team game.

I originally wrote Gregor's "book" as a supplement to what I was already writing to students.  But it does need to be interactive, and more importantly it needs to give new players a sense of what's going on politically, and militarily.  Giving a brief overview of history helps new people out a ton, and makes them feel like they can join in.

Loren's idea of a 'book' to supplement what mentors focus on in-game is what I was attempting to convey earlier with my request for a wiki project.  Changes in all three areas would be brilliant: more interactive/timely/realm specific in-game mentoring, clearer non-realm wiki information, and responsive/supportive forum 'corner' for newbs.

[Silverfire]

So, I know that this has already been mentioned, but one of my characters is currently an ambassador but wants to become a Mentor to try and help out his realm in retaining new nobles and also because I think I'd make a great mentor and it fits the character. However, he doesn't really want to lose his ambassador status if he doesn't have to.

Since this is a feature request and it has a lot of support, (which I support as well), how likely do you think that this may be implemented in the short term, so as to just wait until the changes, or should I go ahead and become mentor because this won't happen for a long time anyway? (On a stable island)