FaithlessZealot.9254

In the past I feel this was the case but, nowadays you run most pug groups nobody wants to talk they just want to get the content over and done with. That's been my experience especially on WoW NOBODY talks to you on that game it is super anti-social. I do put myself out there just not all the time because at least for me it's super exhausting.

Admittedly when I started this topic I wasn't in a great headspace I'm still not and upon self-reflection I was kind of making the assumption there are more people like myself who may not be the greatest at socialising but still want to both out of necessity because I mean it's life we have to to get anywhere and at a small degree desire because, although I prefer my own company 95% of the time that 5% I'm currently missing. Map chat often feels overwhelming to me and at least in my case, I tend to prefer one on one encounters or smaller groups of at most 4 which I've at least known for a bit 2 weeks minimum. It's annoying to be this picky but also desire this it's hard to describe and I thought rather than whining about how I suck at socialising I tried (and perhaps, failed) at creating a thread to change to game to hide the fact I feel insecure about my inability to socialise.

I'll try I appreciate you being patient with me. I probably made myself look like a complete tit here so I'm feeling a bit awkward but I do often find it difficult to express myself. I also think that maybe my standards for finding "The Perfect Guild" are a little too high cos been trying for a couple of years and haven't found any that really suited me well.

I'll admit and be honest today probably wasn't the best to make this post I'm not in the right headspace however, I guess the problem I was trying to solve is two-fold an ability to integrate into the community easier since I've been having a hard time for years and it's why I quit multiple times cos the time I played the most was when I had people to play with but one thing lead to another and I'm no longer playing with them. Also, to make mentor be seen as less of a meme because at least to me every time I see people mentor tag up they are just ignored a lot it's based on observation and unless there's data on this which I'm not sure if there is I'd be happy to be proven wrong. The former point I could come back to and maybe think up ways which could help people get into the game easier. Again I'm willing to admit defeat here and say I may have not thought this through entirely so would a guild finder tool help people like me or some sort of returning player hub where people can hang out? Because I'll concede and say you're right renaming map chat wouldn't help cos I'll admit I'd be just as nervous talking there as I am talking on map most of the time.

I'd be curious to see the differences between NA and EU in terms of community engagement. I'm not saying Lion's Arch on US is always bad as I claim even though I probably made it sound like that sorry. I just really want to play this game when the expansion comes out and I'm worried I won't be able to find anyone so I'm just trying to figure out what I could suggest that may make it easier for more awkward people such as myself to engage with the community?

Yeah but why though? I'm curious and Google doesn't really come up with any real results I heard streamers talk good things about it. I'm willing to concede and say mentor is a terrible idea and the fact it's still in the game is baffling and should be removed entirely since I mean like you said we already have it unofficially. I'm not really married to the idea but, I still feel it's difficult to engage with or get involved with the community so what do you propose people like myself do? I've guild hunted for a long time and never really found one I gelled with or is playing at times that I am playing. I mean this sincerely with no means to be horrible whatsoever cos I used to have a group I play with but now I struggle to fit in and find it difficult to reach out to strangers in game and I don't think I'm alone. The problem I want to solve is why a Mentor tag is even a thing and what could be done to make it better if you are in fact right and nothing can be done then remove it I'm happy either way and I'll try to work on myself to the point I feel more comfortable reaching out to people I guess.

I'm on US and everytime I'm in LA i just see arguments and s-posting honestly. I wanna know what time of day I should be playing to find all these cool people I apparently keep missing out on

I don't see the issue with that giving people incentive to be social rather than type random political drama in lion's arch I still want to know why it works so well in Final Fantasy XIV?

Guess depends on when I'm on cos most time I just see spam or political debate in map chat and I've been having trouble finding the right guild for me and honestly if this wasn't a topic I'm passionate about I wouldn't really use the forums either as I don't like forums generally. So if you want them to be beacons for events then just rename them to Captains and get rid of mentors entirely see my OP for more info.

If mentoring is so unpopular then the only other thing is to just remove the tag entirely. Because it doesn't do anything and I've played long enough to know that no one cares what mentors have to say in-game. Most events where mentors do tag for it fail as a result

I did read through the thread and my suggestion doesn't include the suggestions of the OP which I agree were bad I think I argued it better than he did. No rating system, No gold incentive, Already worked for another MMO far more popular than GW2... I avoided all the traps he ran into and even if this system is abused who cares? I feel enough people would use it as intended than abuse it in general and every single system in the game is open to abuse from raiding to fractals to metas. It's not a very strong argument and also, why does it work so well for Final Fantasy? What is so unique about that game where a mentor incentive system works there and it would never work here especially when famous content creators like Zepla have praised it as being very well done. Update: I did add a part where it cannot really be abused unless you want to risk your account because I worked it into the rules that the game already has. So I've managed to sidestep your argument entirely.

I saw this post and upon further research, I want to strictly say this wouldn't be a way to get or farm 'gold'. I think FFXIV is proof positive of how a system like this can and does work and I would encourage Anet to look to them for guidance with how this can be implemented. I again still VERY rarely see mentors actually be mentors as the role would imply and I've been playing since HoT. This system would be entirely opt-in but, will be advertised to new players so they are aware it's an option as much as guilds can offer these services and it's good that they do I know many that either don't want to be in a guild and rather just have a handful of friends they play with or struggle to find the right type of guild that matches their playstyle or personality. Also, like to reiterate that I wouldn't want a rating system either if the mentor is being toxic they should be subject to the same player report system as everyone else.

One thing that bothers me is that the Mentor tag (Apple) basically means sod all in terms of community recognition. Most people use it as a tag to highlight when events are occurring because they cannot afford the Commander tag (which no judgement it is a lot and took me a while to get). As a result, they tend to get ignored in map chat while Commanders are listened to 9 times out of 10. I feel this is due to the fact that they weren't created for this purpose and instead were created to be actual mentors to guide new players through the complexities of this game. Looking for guilds can be time-consuming when you are trying to find the perfect guild to throw your life away with on this game playing into the wee hours of the morning and as such if you are going to be spending a lot of time with them you wanna be absolutely sure these are people you get on with. Having legitimate mentors could expedite this process as many new players can be recruited from the mentor program into guilds forming stronger bonds and communities. What I propose is the mentor tag be removed as a mastery reward and instead given to players via a mentor rewards program which to add incentive can offer unique cosmetics for attaining mentee satisfaction much like how the sprout system works in FF14. What replaces the original mastery tag could be a 'Captain' tag where they can lead 10-man squads and tag up much like a Commander but aren't afforded the same level of permissions. If they do group up with a Commander they can act as squad leaders within the individual sub-groups of a 50-man squad which can help immensely with coordinating things such as Dragon's End which requires a lot of cooperation and teamwork. To make things less confusing if Captains are part of a 50-man squad then their tags are only visible to members within that group however, Captains who are leading their own groups can still have their tags visible to everyone on the map. I think having mentors actually be mentors which are sorely needed in a complex game such as Guild Wars 2 where there are many mechanics to understand and can be very confusing for a new player on where to go when they first start. Even if you aren't persuaded by that argument then the much stronger argument is that it gives people an incentive to socialise and actually be welcomed into the community as many of us (myself included) struggle with social interaction to actually have a formal way of being introduced to the game by a vetted veteran of the community would arguably serve to retain players for the longer haul especially since the new expansion is about to release soon. Update: Since people are concerned about this system being gamified this is the one-stop method to prevent that entirely. How it would work is that when you tag up as a mentor you join a special chat channel called "Mentor Chat" where your name will have "Mentor" next to it. Players can then opt into this chat as 'Mentees' via a Help UI button which also contains areas to visit the knowledge base and to create support tickets for other issues that don't involve strictly gameplay. When they click this button they'll join this chat and can leave this chat anytime by clicking the button. The only way to earn points towards these cosmetics is by being active in this chat much like how channel points are earnt on Twitch by being active within the stream. The only way you could gamify this system is by spamming the chat which is already against ToS of the game and would result in you getting muted, banned or barred from being a mentor much like spamming in map chat would result in the same thing. That way even if the chat goes "off-topic" it doesn't matter because ultimately it will form relationships with people and they'll be more willing to stick around since they'll know people who play and will likely continue to ask questions about the game so it works. Update: Upon further reading I think perhaps maybe a guild finder tool or some sort of place where newcomers or returning players could be introduced or reintroduced to a community like a welcome area would be a better idea. I'm not the biggest fan of map chat or really group chats in general even posting on here I feel anxious about but I love the game and want to play it more and I know that every time I've had the biggest desire to play is when I had a group of people I was comfortable with to play with. Thoughts?

My name is Faithless and I've been playing since Heart of Thorns although I play on NA I'm actually from EU I just tend to prefer American servers. In terms of experience, I've seen 95% of what the game has to offer with the 5% being the VERY cutting edge stuff that really only got released this year. I can lead things such as a couple of raids, strikes and fractals if need be. Voice chat is a requirement for me as I don't tend to like big text channels and I also don't like giant voice chat rooms either my range is 2 or maybe 3 other people if I know them well enough. I do have fairly bad social anxiety which may sound ironic as to why voice chat is my preferred form of communication but, it's mainly because I like to multitask despite my very fast typing speed. I tend to be prickly initially when first meeting me due to trust issues but, when I get more comfortable with you I tend to chill the hell out. Without getting too much into a sob story I'm in a dark place so a place where I can hang out with one or two cool people and just mong out and play the game would really help me take my mind off things. For more info you can message me in game at FaithlessZealot.9254 or better contact me on Discord at FaithlessZealot (I'm using the new username)

I'm still looking