End of the mentor program (in Changelog)

For the last month I've assigned mentors only to half of new users. As measured both by retention and PR, the half with a mentor actually did slightly less well than the half without.

Thus, the mentor program has been disbanded. Public-spirited vets are invited to hang out in New Players and chat with newcomers instead.

:(

Oh dang! That kinda sucks, yet I see his reasoning!

wow... as depressing as it was when I noticed just 10 mentors this is even sadder...

I would have been happy to be a mentor. Unfortunately my skills here do not extend very far, and I am terrible at forming and explaining strategies. So, I choose to answer the questions I can when new players are confused. Or, if I can't answer them, I send them to either someone I know has the answer or the wiki.

Perhaps the effectiveness should be broken down to compare mentor to mentor, to see if certain people can in fact help new players progress effectively? I still think the mentor program holds a lot of water in theory, and the right mentor can help a new player out a lot...

In that case, Badfish, they might as well, just hang out in new players and help out everyone.

meh... mentoring hasn't done much... I mean, it's a nice thought, but I've been a mentor for about a year, and while I'm pretty sure I've helped many players in the past, I'm pretty sure very very few, if any of them had me as a mentor. Meanwhile, I'm sure there are plenty of non-mentors that have helped twice as many people in that time... If the people of CB weren't so nice, the mentor system may have done better :P

Like I said, good thought behind it and all, but when was the last time someone asked a question in chat or forums and was told "Go ask your mentor noob, I'm busy!" ~_^

I still think there needs to be some kind of system for those users who join but do not have java installed for chat to work properly.

And the new player actually being retentive and speaking to chat or mentor would have helped a lot as well before this most recent change... I was mentor for the longest time back when I played 24/7... and I felt so disappointed when i would have multiple mentees at once and not even one of them would send any sort of reply to the automatic mentor message >_<

I just wish there was a better way of giving them one on one attention on a day to day basis... It would help our current situation of lack of players way more than anything else I could ever come up with. Maybe more of a mentor award... similar to how the new players get a reward for their goals... something for the Mentors to get them motivated and get them in the spirit of the competition... which gives me an idea for a contest ^_~

Draco i suggested this a while ago, and Jon replied back to me yesterday saying that he made replying to their mentor a goal for the new player, but i very *very* rarely got a CM from a mentee of mine since i started mentoring years ago, =(

I agree with this change.

I feel that Bast has a very valid point.

> I still think there needs to be some kind of system for those users who join but do not have java installed for chat to work properly.

If we did, that would have shown up in the numbers.

You have the forums, they're more than adequate :)
Besides, stuff in the forum is permanent, anybody can see it, even much later... chat (and even chatmail) is fleeting.

As long as new players post in the forums and ask things there, you don't really need a mentor, do you ?

Badfish has a point, were any of the mentors particularly effective or pretty much even retention numbers all around?

can we have voluntory mentoring? like still have a list of mentor and if the new player wants help, he can send CM to them and ask?

e.g.
TheHatchetman available
Bast available
Raveshaw Clone offline

and they just click name and go to the "inspect" page to send CM. online/offline will be toggled when they log out or choose to block mentees temporarily.

I like the idea of a pool of mentors but perhaps be a little more specific
i.e.
TheHatchetman available
Bast available
Raveshaw Clone offline
Freed In the toilet
G_Beee Down the Pub
Moto - Not really here

I'm concerned that Draco wants the retentive new players.

I'm concerned that Freed is actually _in_ the toilet.

well he was with G, then he had to go to the bathroom. Initially, he was confident in his ability to just lean against the wall, and even remembered to pick the seat up. Unfortunately, he wasn't even halfway finished before he realized his confidence was a bad idea and he's now made quite the mess in his bathroom... Disappointed, he figures he'll finish his business sitting down. Yet, with all the distraction of the mess (and the pub visit), he entirely forgot about the seat.

Splash!

lmbo hatch

I've gotta say, you are putting way too much thought into how Freed goes to the bathroom, Hatch. x_x