Survey #-1: The Mentoring Program

Dellinger here on a mission. I am gathering some information for the benefit of the council at the moment in regards to mentoring, and hope to deliver this information to them to petition for positive change in the mentoring system.

I am here to ask you all, as members of RPS, what you believe should be an integral part of the mentoring system. At the moment, the current system requires "adequacy in 3 RPs," "adequacy in 3 dungeon runs," and "a general understanding and upkeep of the rules of RPS."

This is not meant for discussion, so all individuals are alloted one post. You may edit it as many times as needed. If you edit it, and fear I will not see it, please PM me to inform me you have made changes to your recommendation. The question is as follows.

What would you like to see added to / changed in the mentoring system? Please list your recommendations in numbered form, give a brief description of what it is (2-3 sentences), and a brief description of why you believe it is needed (3-5 sentences).

Keep in mind, new members would have to do all things the council opts to enforce. So if you have ideas that are similar enough to each other, combine them for a good condensed run-through.

Thanks for participating in the Dellinger survey!

Cheers!

I think changing the 3/3 rule to 'as needed' would be the best option. Give new members a required 1/1(dungeon/rp) and the mentor can assess them to see if they require more mentoring. For the ones that do not require it, they can pass on to be a full member, and the ones that do need it can continue to be mentored as much as they require it. Not everyone is on the same learning curve, and not everyone that comes in requires strict mentoring. Given that we have very few active people on colored positions, this could take some stress off of the ones that do do things.


Aside that, did the mentor letter stop being sent out? That could have a lot of use, in speeding up the mentoring process. Inside of it could still be the names of active mentors, as well as a general base of dungeon and rp information. Stuff like, "always remember to bring feathers," "(talking in bubbles is a way to separate IC from OOC)," "make sure to check the forums at least once a day." That kind of stuff that every RPS person should know.


For the council, or whoever, a short RPS time line could be made up to add in to the letter, or just so it can be pointed out to new members who's character has been around for a long time, even if they are new to RPS. It doesn't have to be fancy or descriptive. Just a small list of "historical" activities that are noteworthy.


Sorry if this is longer than you wanted xD.

1. Re-evaluations of the Mentors themselves
Why: Some mentors have begun to act un-mentorlike:
-Berating/insulting other members
-Not adhering to the rules themselves

(I had more, but can't remember at the moment. I'll edit it when I do.)

Adhamh wrote:1. Re-evaluations of the Mentors themselves
Why: Some mentors have begun to act un-mentorlike:
-Berating/insulting other members
-Not adhering to the rules themselves

(I had more, but can't remember at the moment. I'll edit it when I do.)

I would probably change that to higher ups. Some of them really need re-evaluation. But this is a Mentor thread so I shall add what I think!
♦ Mentors discussing among themselves immediately a new member joins, making it their goal to complete the mentoring for the newbies ASAP. Not saying that don't do their job, just saying the sooner the better. Huge stress reliever at times for newbies.

Cyler wrote:

Adhamh wrote:1. Re-evaluations of the Mentors themselves
Why: Some mentors have begun to act un-mentorlike:
-Berating/insulting other members
-Not adhering to the rules themselves

(I had more, but can't remember at the moment. I'll edit it when I do.)

I would probably change that to higher ups. Some of them really need re-evaluation. But this is a Mentor thread so I shall add what I think!
♦ Mentors discussing among themselves immediately a new member joins, making it their goal to complete the mentoring for the newbies ASAP. Not saying that don't do their job, just saying the sooner the better. Huge stress reliever at times for newbies.

In general, I would think "mentoring the mentors". I've seen instances where there are mixed signals on what works between mentors and other mentors, or other staff; and it leads to confusion for new members and as well as themselves. So basically, making sure they know what they're doing before doing it, or like Ani said, evaluate them over time, get this all covered after understanding what's wrong. Like...monthly or something.

On the other hand, does that sound a little too tedious for a roleplaying guild? Not quite sure, personally. Maybe a Q&A for staff, should they need a reminder of something? Get reference on where to go for answers? Have talks with each other should there be a complaint? Pretty sure we do half of this already, but is there some way to take it a step further to be more social with one another? (And if there already is, why aren't we using it again? Or are we and I just missed the memo? @_@; )

Mine is a multiple step program =D.

First, like has been said, re-evaluate the mentors. Not teach them, filter which would be good mentors based on their experience, maturity, and all the good stuff that makes a mentor.

Make sure each mentor knows their job. In my opinion, mentors should be a group of not only good role-players, but someone that can teach. It doesn't help if you are the best role player in the world but do not pass on your information. Mentors should be over-all liked people, or at least have people skills. Mature, of course. I also think, all councilors must be mentors, they may not be active, but they should qualify as one.
I am not sure if we do now, but we used to test mentors before allowing them inside.

Now, for the actual mentoring process. As it is, we do not have many active mentors, it's nobody's fault. They have lives just like the rest of have lives. What I was thinking is more of 'anonymous report' program. Meaning, if a guild member(regardless of rank) sees something done wrong, they notify a mentor, who will decide if then the person needs mentoring. This saves time since not everyone who comes through the doors needs mentoring and we do not have enough mentors to take care of them all.

Mentors should also keep an eye out for those who might need mentoring. If you are in an RP and a person is auto-hitting, you teach them quickly, or if the problem is too bad, they get a file on the mentoring boards, and people work with them.
Same goes for dungeons, if you are doing a dungeon and a player isn't listening to a 'veteran', running off and getting the party killed trying to be the hero or saying "I got this", they should be tossed to mentoring.

Xeek wrote:Mine is a multiple step program =D.

First, like has been said, re-evaluate the mentors. Not teach them, filter which would be good mentors based on their experience, maturity, and all the good stuff that makes a mentor.

Make sure each mentor knows their job. In my opinion, mentors should be a group of not only good role-players, but someone that can teach. It doesn't help if you are the best role player in the world but do not pass on your information. Mentors should be over-all liked people, or at least have people skills. Mature, of course. I also think, all councilors must be mentors, they may not be active, but they should qualify as one.
I am not sure if we do now, but we used to test mentors before allowing them inside.

Now, for the actual mentoring process. As it is, we do not have many active mentors, it's nobody's fault. They have lives just like the rest of have lives. What I was thinking is more of 'anonymous report' program. Meaning, if a guild member(regardless of rank) sees something done wrong, they notify a mentor, who will decide if then the person needs mentoring. This saves time since not everyone who comes through the doors needs mentoring and we do not have enough mentors to take care of them all.

Mentors should also keep an eye out for those who might need mentoring. If you are in an RP and a person is auto-hitting, you teach them quickly, or if the problem is too bad, they get a file on the mentoring boards, and people work with them.
Same goes for dungeons, if you are doing a dungeon and a player isn't listening to a 'veteran', running off and getting the party killed trying to be the hero or saying "I got this", they should be tossed to mentoring.

I agree with the bolded areas, but disagree with the italicizes.

Just for the sake of informing you all, I am keeping an eye on the forum here. Just abiding by my "This isn't a discussion" rule. Thank you all for participating so far, and if you know anyone with an idea themselves, urge 'em to post it. The more member opinions we have, the better we can possible form mentorship should the council agree with the move.

Cheers,
Dellinger

-bumping, in case the newbies have something to say about the process they want to see fixed-

I know I'm not exactly a newbie, but I'm putting my two cents in anyway.

I agree with a lot of what Aura said. I think switching the 3/3 rule to 1/1 and more as needed makes a lot of sense. We have a lot more new members than we have mentors, and said mentors shouldn't have to be overwhelmed when they preform a valuable service for the guild.

I also think that rather than a letter, two stickied threads in the Registration forum would be useful. One that's a general etiquette thread of things we expect of people in the guild, such as talking IC and OOC, not running off on your own in a dungeon, that sort of thing. And the other would be a summarized timeline and overview of major story lines, as well as a list of noteworthy members.

I think that if a Newbie really isn't clicking with their Mentor they should have a way to, politely of course, request a mentor swap.

If I may post another question for the guild, for clarification:

Does it seem widely agreed (from some of the posts that I'm reading), that instead of mentors doing lots of prep-work with members, mentors would take a role of 'guild evaluators,' actively RPing and dungeoning with members and offering opinions when things aren't up to par? Are these members also responsible for watching for guild chat etiquette? Agree or Disagree? Why?

I mainly ask to clarify some of the things I read. Feel free to also post your responses in Survey #3 instead. |o/

Clarification: Second posts are the preferred medium. Thank you, Xeek, for catching me on that!

I am not sure if we are suppose to make another post or take it to the other page? If not, I will edit this to the bottom of mine.

I believe we should not have initial mentoring, instead, mentors should just be a group of select people who are paying attention to people's RPing style and dungeoneering skills.

The role of a mentor would be correct RP errors, provide battle tips, and watch members overall behavior. If a mentor sees a player who doesn't seem to be doing extra help in any of the three subjects, they are to act as tutors, and write down the member in the mentoring section so other mentors know that person needs specific attention.

Dellinger wrote:Does it seem widely agreed (from some of the posts that I'm reading), that instead of mentors doing lots of prep-work with members, mentors would take a role of 'guild evaluators,' actively RPing and dungeoning with members and offering opinions when things aren't up to par? Are these members also responsible for watching for guild chat etiquette?

Yes, yes, and I agree completely.

A final question: In what mediums would you want to be able to contact a mentor should you have a problem? Forum, in-game, or various other things? Would you appreciate a list of people that are actively available to take your complaints about another member's behavior? What other things could be done to facilitate a more positive interaction with your mentoring team?

I think things are fine as it is, if you aren't sure who is active just check the 'logged in within 24 hour' section, or PM multiple members.
Though, maybe everyone adding themselves up in messengers like MSN, yahoo, ect, wouldn't be a bad idea.