Mentoring System: Where is it?

The game needs a functioning mentoring system, especially considering that the Event-Mechanics get more and more complicated and demanding. I applied roughly a couple of years ago (I can't even remember anymore when) and all the information I have ever gotten is that the team is working on revamping the system and that they don't take new mentors until that task is completed. For two years!!!

So I started mainly to invite low level players as new neighbors and helping them out with goodies and explanations of game mechanics, artisan products, etc. On the other hand I don't feel the desire to kick out my successful „chicks“ to free spaces in my neighbor-list and therefore my private „mentoring“ has hit a standstill.

Even for me as a high level player the game is becoming more and more challenging and helping out each other is a fundamental part of this game to me. A functioning mentoring system would provide an additional level of support for new players, especially when things are glitchy and there is no proper Event FAQ available. It would help to take off some pressure of the forum and the mods here as most of the questions by new players should be able to be answered by their mentors.

And off course it would lead to a stronger community and a more enjoyable game for everybody.

 

There was news (not good) about the mentoring system in the Producer's Newsletter September:

 

Thanks for the update, Mir85. Even if it isn't good.

 

why can't they stop for half a month preparing events and fix these problems?....

 

It is obvious that the mentoring system has been put on hold and it seems that it has been on hold for two years already. When does it actually get more priority again???

I understand that the old mentoring system included some sort of reward system for the mentors as they are doing extra work to help out new players. I believe that even though this is a great idea, it is not the main reason for people to become a mentor and certainly makes the whole system very complex. I would gladly do away with "love-points" and extras if that would ease the situation. Just introduce a very basic system that allows mentors to assist new players without gaining additional rewards for themselves. Then later you can add more features to it as it develops.

One of the reason that I am mentioning this, is the feature that only allows me to send a certain amount of messages within a limited time period to my neighbors. Although I understand the supposed reason behind this feature (preventing spamming), I believe that this is absolutely counterproductive. It actively prevents a discussion between players unless we all are online at the same time and can meet in the chat room. And btw. no other online game that I ever played included that limitation of communication.

Especially the missing FAQ in the last event and the new Event-Mechanic made the communication between players an important part (including asking for special presents like EP buffs, etc.). I let all of my neighbors know that the information could only be found in the strategy thread of the forum instead of the Event FAQ - a part of the forum I don't usually pay attention to, because I like figuring out my strategies by myself. Figuring that I am not the only person thinking that way, it was important to me to let everybody know what was going on. Passing on that crucial information though took me several hours because of the cool down time for messages.

At least between neighbors we should be able to send as many messages as we want to each other; meaning that if there is spamming, we can just delete the specific neighbor of our list.

 

Yes! I would say allow a Send All just for neighbors. Would love to be able to let them know when I have say opened up a new level of my trade(s) so that if they need something I can make, they can let me know.

 

That is a great idea!!! And I absolutely agree. It would be so much easier to pass along information: For example "I am a confectioner and I need Preserving Sugars." That means that they would not at all be interested in presents like Salt. I believe that this feature would help a lot, especially people that just reached level 40 and are still short on drops or that just opened up Bahamarama/Spa and would like to ask for Red Punches/Herbal Elixiers.

Right now BigPoint doesn't even let us copy and paste messages, which is really wrong. As mentioned in a former post I sometimes send PJs or or even just little EP helpers like Strawberry muffins to my lower level neighbors that haven't reached level 40 yet. But that means that they don't usually know what I am sending, let alone how to use the buffs correctly. I tend to send a message with those special presents including some instructions on how to use them. So now I have to write my messages in word first and save them on my computer, then I copy and paste from that file. Why I have to go through so much trouble to help out other players is just incomprehensible to me!!!

Anyway I still do it because I like the thought of mentoring new players and helping each other out, when needed. I hope that the game is more enjoyable for my newbies that way and let's them look forward to new features which can be opened up later in the game.

 

This change the worst about the messages. ...
You can't help easily other players...

 

@ jennifersiegel If you were a mentor that is exactly what you would be doing. You would need to make a file of every instruction you could think of, creating a file to answer questions.
There were some serious problems with the mentoring system and the whole thing needs to be revamped. There were many other things that needed to be fixed also and the mentoring system is just lower on the list.

 

I hope this is not motivated by not being in a position to enjoy these extras.
But, in the end, this needs to be relooked at and improved for the benefit of everyone...

 

I don't even know what the extras are. I have just read enough to know that mentors get extra bonuses for helping out, but I have no idea what the specifics are and I applied before even knowing about the rewards at all. I just started reading up about it after repeatedly getting told by BP that they are not accepting new mentors until the system is fixed.

My point is this: the mentoring system ought to be primarily about helping out low level players, and should not be about rewarding high level players AT ALL. The mentoring system should be about nurturing the chicks, providing a stronger player base for the game and a stronger and more cooperative community for the players. Giving rewards to the mentors do none of these things; the mentors themselves are, pretty much by definition, higher level players who have already established themselves and don't need extra goodies. I'm pretty much self-sufficient on my farm. Sure, I wouldn't mind having an extra 10,000,000 CC or a Bee-utiful Bee or 30 pink rabbit stalls. Any of that would be nice, but I have the resources to work towards any of those goals already. The mentoring system shouldn't be about giving me any of that for helping newbies out by answering a few questions; it ought to be about HELPING THE NEWBIES for whom 10,000 CC or an orange chicken stall would be a HUGE bonus.

Which is why I gifted out zucchini-apple breads and sent a note with instructions on how to use it to all of my neighbours under level 40 at the beginning of the current event. I got nothing out of this, and of course could have sold the ZABs for big money instead. But I've got 12 Million CCs already; the extra money I would have made from selling the 3 or 4 on the market would have meant pretty much nothing to me and a lot of players have considerably more CCs than that. But for players who can't yet even access the crafting products on the market that ZAB would be a huge bonus: meaning they actually had a reasonable chance of completing the first level of the event in the time allotted. (Granted, that's kind of moot now since BP is giving everyone that first level for free due to glitches. Btw. I approve wholeheartedly of that solution.) I'm trying to gift out some Crafting Products like cheap EP Boosters or PJs to my low level neighbors. They are cheap for me to buy on the market, but make a HUGE difference to a new player, as well as teaches them about other aspects of the game. I believe that Events can be quite frustrating for low level players as they will not be able to complete them due to a lack of space and boosters. Being able to show them that at a later point in the game everything will be considerably easier complete is a way to keep people in the game. And the fact that you loose your mentor once you reach level 40 just seems proove my theory.

But at his point I would have to kick out neighbors, which I nurtured, to free up space in my neighbor list and I am very reluctant to just kick them out.

According to the newsletter BP is concentrating more on high level players right now, which is good. I see the mentoring system as a big improvement of the game for high level players and low level players all the same. This game is depending on a broad range of players (who else would buy thousands of hops if not players that still need to complete those quests in the farmer's society). The dynamics of the market are after all an essential part of the game and the new producer did realize that.

I tried to privately mentor players because it costs me basically nothing, and it's fun! And I hereby encourage other high level players to do the same until a new mentoring system is introduced. It makes for a stronger community, and an overall more balanced game.

I do not mean to take away awards but at this point it might be worth considering scratching the old system altogether and starting from scratch. Start with a simple setup and add extras like rewards later if necessary (as it seems to me just complicate the matter for now). Sorry old mentors, but the existing system is obviously excluding everybody who started playing just a bit too late to be accepted. So in order to keep the rewards for a few players that had the pleasure to help for years you are inhibiting others to get the full enjoyment of the game. And remember helping each other is not about personal gain!!

 

I don't have mega CCs (I'm usually close to broke). My craft shops are all lower level. I still managed to provide one of my neighbors with some mentoring. (Yes, I applied and got the message "We'll let you know".) Many of the mentors from what I've seen and been told, are German, which makes for some interesting conversations. "Chicks" need to be given information that they don't know to ask. It needs to be given to them at the right time as well. Don't tell a level 9 that there are Craft Shops at level 40. Let the chick know that at level 10 a sheep pen is a good thing to get. At level 15, tell them that they need to actively look for neighbors and why. Send them a pink jelly when they get to level 21. Explain where to find the breeding pen. Explain about the gifting system and what gifts are good for. Etc., etc., etc.

 

Right BlackCaviar, I agree. All of that information is important to be given at the right times. And thank you so much to point out that even without many CC's you can do a lot for newbies. I wouldn't mind at all opening a new thread teaching new mentors on how to help out the best possible way with or without CC's. But as I understand there haven't been any new mentors for a long time. I am not really an experienced mentor; let alone a mentor at all. I would love to work together with experienced mentors to teach everyone interested including myself in the intricacies of mentoring and the timing. It has been after all a long time since I have been a newbie myself and can't remember all the different stages anymore.

At the same time it is never too early to help out with Crafting Products (when winning a strawberry muffin at the wheel I tend to give them as presents: too cheap to sell, worthless amount of experience for me to bother with), but this is not at all necessary as there is many other ways to help newbies.

All that said at the moment, as presents go, I can only send those as special presents through my neighbor list. At the last G&T I gave away my egg farms (I definitely remember the low drop rates of hammers). For example: I don't use workshops at all. Why would I waste the little space there is on an eggfarm that uses chicken already (price on my market around 170 CC's right now) to produce an egg in 20 hours (selling price 60 CC's). My advice would be to make chickens, sell them and then buy nearly 3 eggs every hour. But unless you have the egg trees, the workshops are needed to complete the timed quests in the Farmers Society. All that said I don't built workshops at all and have an abundance of tools. I would happily make chopstick factories to just give to my neighbors if that is what they want.

BlackCaviar just between us: Sheep? I personally would rather recommend sticking with rabbits. They sell for the double than sheep and take considerably less time to produce. So even if I harvest them after 8 hours (time to make one sheep), I get two sheep for the selling price of one rabbit. So I buy sheep when they are cheap to have them for events and to sell them when the price is high. And realistically rabbits are far more likely to be asked for in quests (lower level animal) and therefore the prices spike much higher than sheep ever did, since I started playing the game.

 

jen, it was just an example but sheep do have their place in FSQs and events. Early on, when you don't have many pens, each one should be used to it's fullest extent. However, your advice is sound.

BTW, you can send gifts to "friends" as well as neighbors. I've gifted event drop products to some on the SOS list just by adding them to my friends. I could do (but haven't done) that with pantry items as well I believe. That brings up another item, the difference between "friends" and "neighbors". Personally, I would have used the terms in the opposite manner to which the game has assigned them but that's MHO.

 

How do I add friends? And is there a limit on the amount of friends that I can have? Maybe that would be a solution to my dilemma; making some of my neighbors friends and free up some neighbor space for lower level players...

And what do you think about a thread for tips about unofficial mentoring?

 

Hey jen,
anyone you wish to add as a friend that is currently not in your list, send them an IGM.
In the post office, under the outbox tab, click the check mark next to their name and then at the bottom click the green button that says "add as friend"
They will be added to your friend/buddy list and you will be able to send them gifts either the free ones we get daily or pantry items from your farm.
I am not an official mentor but I am sure those you have helped appreciate it. You don't have to belong to an official mentoring program to make a difference to someone new to the game. Good luck to you!

 

To add friends, go to the post office, compose a letter to the person you wish to add. Send the note to them EX: I saw your SOS post and I'm gifting you .......

Once you have sent the note, go to your outbox. Click on the checkmark in the front of your message to them. An option to add them as a friend should turn to green and then click on it. They will now appear in your friends list and you can either select them in the post office (sometimes glitchy) or through the give a gift in the "My Gifts" on the news panel to send them a regular gift. They should also show up in your list in the pantry. (I'm out of gifts until later or I'd double check that for you.)


pnp: I took too long to type.

 

Thank you puppiesnponies and CaliChrome for the info.

 

you can copy & paste, but only the entire message when you reply or start a new one, which can be a pain

 

I also agree that the mentoring system needs to be fixed, but we have been told that it is not a priority right now.

I can understand not making it a priority. They have to make executive decisions about what is best for the game and they have clearly come to the conclusion that it is more important to develop other/existing features of the game and focus later on developing/fixing an entirely new system.

I do think, though, that in the meantime some other system needs to be put in place.

I believe that in our news section there should be a list of all new players, updated each day, even each hour or minute. This way we know who is new as soon as they are new, rather than when they get up the courage (and the knowledge) to grace the forum. Many new players that I meet I only meet by chance if I'm grazing the newbie questions section, at which point they've usually been in the game long enough to get up a few levels. If we could know as soon as a new player joins the game, that gives us the ability to add them as a neighbour, offer our help, and do what we can to ease and guide them through the game until they can stand on their own two feet. Even give us a separate neighbour list for new players.

I started this game in 2010, and once the wise owl left me, I was on my own. I've made my way, and I've asked lots of questions on the forum, and it is possible to find your way around without having a personal mentor. But it's not easy, and I've made lots of mistakes, and a lot of money can be saved and spent well by knowing what you're doing. It frustrates me in times like this when I'm broke of powerfeed that I could have upwards of 50 extra PF if I had known not to use it on my chickens.

A mentor is as much about offering advice as it is about guiding. The information I needed to know I could find or ask for on the forum, but that does not change the fact that I DID unknowingly spend 50 PF on my chickens. This could have been avoided if I had a mentor to tell me not to - and to tell me WHY not to.

I think that adding a mentor system is fantastic, and I think that taking the time to fix it properly is a good move. But I also think that a supplementary system needs to be put in place to offer mentoring to players in the meantime.