MENTOR Command

baldwama · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:35 am

The MENTOR Command has been mentioned in passing in this Forum, but it is not listed in the SK website Help Files. Why not? I'd like to have some idea of what the obligations of both mentor and student are supposed to be and not walk into a situation deaf, dumb, and blind.

Adder · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:33 am

Quote:

[Training help] mentor

Syntax: mentor

This command is somewhat unusual in that it functions differently depending on
what level you have achieved.

If you are of Apprentice status or below, you are a student who is eligible
to be mentored. Students can use the mentor command to issue a call for
help from a mentor (experienced players) while in their newbie school or at
an inn. Only mentors from your kingdom will receive a notification, with
preference being given to mentors of your same or a similar class. Mentors
receive benefits for the teaching they provide, so feel free to patronize
only the mentors that provide the most helpful assistance to you.

If you are of Mentor status or above, you are eligible to actually become a
mentor by teaching students. Only mentors can use the teach command, which is
used to teach level, skills, spells and lyrics to eligible students. Teaching
is a method for the mentor to earn XP and earn Mentor points. You may only
teach in newbie schools and Inns. You will be notified of students as they
enroll at school or if a student is seeking assistance. You are allowed to
enter the newbie school for the sole purpose of helping students. If you do
(C)ontinue - (R)efresh - (B)ack - (H)elp - (Q)uit [RETURN]:

not wish to mentor, you may use the mentor command to toggle it off/on.

WARNING: If there's even a question that a mentor is abusing his mentor
abilities, they can and will be permanently removed.

See also: mentor-tips teach inns auto status

Benzo Balrog · **Joined:** Mon Sep 15, 2003 5:48 am **Posts:** 1306

Com'on, adder, at least give the newbie a hand. :-?

The obligations on the part of the mentor are well-behavior: to attempt RP, to certainly not hurt the new character, to actually provide substantial help to new players when needed, and to be a role model. Dulrik (the head administrator, or "implementor") has made it quite clear that he will punish any abuses of mentoring.

Mentees should try to be as respectful as possible, and if they are new characters they should ask questions, however "dumb" they may be. Attempts to RP out the mentoring are usually well-recieved.

Welcome to SK, and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Dulrik · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:46 am

As far as why it's not on the website help files, the one's on the web are a littile bit out of date. Mentor is a feature that's only been added this year and I think we last synced the help files right before that. If in doubt, check to see if the help files in game have something new to say.

baldwama · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:01 am

Is there anyway to better organize the website help files the next time you have an update? Say sort them by General, Class, & Race, for instance. There is so much information out there (even if it's a little outdated) that it is hard to find what you are looking for with just an Index listing.

Dulrik · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:07 am

There are some plans to update the web helps with a live feed from the game at some point. As far as categories, right now the best I can offer is to start out with the categories that are listed in the opening help screen. Eventually we want the 'See also' entries in each help file to be weblinked for quicker navigation.

Baraka · **Joined:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:27 pm **Posts:** 325

Found a thread that fits...

Code:

mentor
No mentor is currently available.

???

What gives? I thought this command was to get new people like myself in touch with established players. As yet, I've met two people between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm EST. Any help?

Adder · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:55 pm

The hours you listed are when the MUD is at about 1/2 of it's higher count. Most people are at work or at school. That's pretty bad luck, though. You might have joined one of the less populated kingdoms as well.

Dulrik · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:38 pm

The problem with the mentor command is that there are conflicting desires. You want a mentor that shares a lot of common skills with you and is from the same kingdom. You also don't want to get everyone in the game overwhelming a newbie with offers of aid.

On the other hand, you want to make sure that a newbie ALWAYS gets at least one offer from someone who is definitely going to help them out. On less populated kingdoms or at late night hours, there may be nobody who is around to help out. Even worse is when a mentor does get the message but for whatever reason doesn't bother to respond.

I'm not really sure how to improve the current system of selecting mentors. I'd certainly like to, so if you have suggestions, I'm listening.

One piece of advice to mentors: If there's a chance that you will miss or are not going to respond to a mentor notification, turn OFF your mentor status. You can turn it back on whenever you want, but at least this way there is a chance that some other mentor will get the message.

baldwama · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:59 pm

How about the mentor command generate a separate Who list of mentors? Then, it's just a matter of asking for help from whoever on the list could help you the most with your problem. Sometimes you don't want someone with your same skills. For example, I've lost an arm and equipment--I need a healer first and foremost, not a more experienced warrior!

You could also have 'mentor nearest', 'mentor <country>', 'mentor <class>, 'mentor <?>' to specify what type of mentor you need for a variety of possible circumstances.

Shattered Kingdoms

MENTOR Command

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