No one respects the mentor tag in Final Fantasy XIV. It’s applied via an automated process, and the idea is that you’re supposed to have it to indicate that you’re happy to help new players. What it actually means is that you want the rewards for running an absurd number of mentor roulettes, and 90% of the time it also means that you have little to no idea how to play the game, with bad habits and misconceptions cobbled together from half-read forums posts along with a screaming impatience for new players.
Yes, the new players whom mentors are specifically supposed to be helping.
Of course, part of the reason why this is the case is that there are people who want the special rewards, and the only way to get those is to flag yourself as a mentor even if you don’t want to, like, teach anyone. I understand the motivation for the designers, of course, since it means more people willing to serve as mentors, but I also see that the effect is “mentors” who aren’t in it to teach. The mentor program in Final Fantasy XI, by contrast, included no special rewards but usually was thus only used by players who were relatively clear on what they were doing.
What do you think, dear readers? Should MMO mentors have special rewards, or should teaching be its own reward?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
