Guild Wars 2

Am i the only person that finds the mentor tag completely ridiculous?
Getting the tag for free,for practically no effort at all,just about 30 minutes of events. While i payed a hefty price of 300G(quite recently actually). On top of being free,the mentor tag is arguably better than the original com tag. On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com(The apple on the head really doesnt matter). You get a chat title that stands you out from the rest, something even coms don’t have. And yeah you can’t use mentor in WVW, but i don’t even do wvw. I feel completly cheated and ripped off. Either way, in two months youll see 50 mentor tags in shadow of behemoth, sure gonna be fun.

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

So it was designed to kitten over any com outside of WVW? Seems pretty fair.

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

So it was designed to kitten over any com outside of WVW? Seems pretty fair.

No, but I suppose it was designed to attract new players who do not know any better yet.

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

So it was designed to kitten over any com outside of WVW? Seems pretty fair.

No, but I suppose it was designed to attract new players who do not know any better yet.

And in turn kittening over any player that bought a tag for PVE purposes.

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

So it was designed to kitten over any com outside of WVW? Seems pretty fair.

No, but I suppose it was designed to attract new players who do not know any better yet.

And in turn kittening over any player that bought a tag for PVE purposes.

I guess that is true for the commanders that used to be commanding only newbies who do not know any better.

I can foresee a few things happening with these tags.

1. Trolls will troll, and they will be rendered pointless once trolling is associated with them rather than mentoring.

2. The skritt factor will wear off quickly, either because everyone will have one (so no ~prestige~ factor), or because people will expect them to actually mentor, and they’ll get sick of being pestered/flamed for being terrible.

3. Eventually, only the people who actually want to mentor will mentor, or those who want to lead a train/zerg in the absence of anyone with a commander tag.

Commander tags will always take precedent over mentor tags to those that know better, leaving starter maps and the aforementioned zergs the only place where mentor tags will be an issue (either for good or for bad). I do agree that Commanders should get a special tag in chat.

Ultimately, however, I do think the mentor badge should have been the final reward in that mastery line, and not the first one. That way, it’s less accessible for early flaunting purposes, and requires more grinding/sacrifice for those who want to use it to troll. Personally, I think it could be an overall beneficial thing for the community, and allow players who want to fill a specific niche (answering questions, helping other players who call out on the map, one-off kind of stuff) to do so without stepping all over commanders (who tend to focus more on organizing coordinated events).

Batelle.1680:

I can foresee a few things happening with these tags.

1. Trolls will troll, and they will be rendered pointless once trolling is associated with them rather than mentoring.

2. The skritt factor will wear off quickly, either because everyone will have one (so no ~prestige~ factor), or because people will expect them to actually mentor, and they’ll get sick of being pestered/flamed for being terrible.

3. Eventually, only the people who actually want to mentor will mentor, or those who want to lead a train/zerg in the absence of anyone with a commander tag.

Commander tags will always take precedent over mentor tags to those that know better, leaving starter maps and the aforementioned zergs the only place where mentor tags will be an issue (either for good or for bad). I do agree that Commanders should get a special tag in chat.

Ultimately, however, I do think the mentor badge should have been the final reward in that mastery line, and not the first one. That way, it’s less accessible for early flaunting purposes, and requires more grinding/sacrifice for those who want to use it to troll. Personally, I think it could be an overall beneficial thing for the community, and allow players who want to fill a specific niche (answering questions, helping other players who call out on the map, one-off kind of stuff) to do so without stepping all over commanders (who tend to focus more on organizing coordinated events).

The mentor tags themselves aren’t the issue. The issue is them being more appealing than the com tag.Better design,bigger size and chat title. Making it pointless to have a com tag outside of wvw. I can lead events just as-well with mentor tag which is free and easy to get. Making all the players who got a com tag for pve feel ripped off.

Battelle nailed it.

Misguided.5139:

Battelle nailed it.

Indeed he did.
Only thing I would add is we need a Mentor Abuse report function.

I feel ripped off that when I finally saved 100g for a tag it went to 300g, but that’s the breaks. Get over it.

+1 on the Mentor Abuse function for reporting. New players may actually mistake Mentor Tagged players for GM’s, and be more likely to believe anything they say. (however improbable)

re: “They’re like a free Commander Tag, it isn’t fair.”, etc… – If all you want is bling that lets you be seen from space, then yes they serve the same function. But neither of these are really intended to be a vanity tag. And they are absolutely not the same at all.
The Mentor tag puts an icon over the player’s head, and an icon visible on the map for all players to see. And it adds a [Mentor] tag before your name in chat. And that’s all it does. The intent is for it to show players “Here is someone who is willing to help you. Someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy.”(Though like someone showing a Commander Tag, there is no guarantee they are actually competent or trustworthy.) The Mentor Tag does not give a special chat channel, the ability to form a squad, special map markers, visible map drawing or ping, etc… All it gives you is an overhead tag, a map tag, and a chat tag.
And you don’t need a Commander Tag to command a group, or a Mentor Tag to mentor new players. If you know what you’re doing, you can do both those things without a tag. It’s a nice aid, but not necessary. If you don’t know what you’re doing, neither of those things will give you any ability – they’ll just be bling that lets you be seen from space.
I bought a commander tag at the 100 gold + 250 Badges of Honor price, and I don’t regret it. I use it pretty much exclusively for organizing PvE events and Champ zergs.(I only really play PvE.) I use the Mentor Tag when I’m helping new players. Each has their own use. Would I still have purchased a Commander Tag if I knew that Mentor Tags were coming? I think so. Do I feel ripped off? Not really.

Have to admit would prefer the mentor tags had more of a limited range of visibility to keep them distinct from the existing comm tags. Understand the different symbols but this should be a much more scaled down version. Example maybe its only usable in starting zones or only appears on the mini-map.

Maybe in cities and zones up to lvl 40?

ScribeTheMad.7614:

Maybe in cities and zones up to lvl 40?

That could work. If the point is mentor, above 20, you kind of should have a really good grasp of the basic game.

Xard.8069:

I feel ripped off that when I finally saved 100g for a tag it went to 300g, but that’s the breaks. Get over it.

The 100G tag was for one character, while the 300G is account wide. Your example doesn’t make sense.

It should be limited to the same zone as the “Say” chat. Oustide that, I think is great.

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

Ameepa.6793:

DaniTheHero.6318:

On the mini map the mentor tag is bigger and better designed,so if i was a new player and didnt know better id follow the mentor and not the com

So it works exactly like it is designed to.

So it was designed to kitten over any com outside of WVW? Seems pretty fair.

No, but I suppose it was designed to attract new players who do not know any better yet.

And in turn kittening over any player that bought a tag for PVE purposes.

Especially those of us who bought it specifically to mentor.

Not that I mind terribly. I use it when needed as a commander tag (nobody else wants to lead a zerg or organizing things) but I do not need the other things a commander tag does, like forming squads or checking supplies. In fact, it is even less useful with events as I can not join a party (I often do to show people I am putting my money where my mouth is by asking them to do the same) with the interface they tested but am not clear if you can with mentor tags. If so there will be a LOT of confusion as people get forced into using mentor tags.

re: It should be limited to the same zone as the “Say” chat. Oustide that, I think is great. – A lot of people ask questions in map chat, this wouldn’t work. Or do you just mean map tag visibility?

Elden Arnaas.4870:

+1 on the Mentor Abuse function for reporting. New players may actually mistake Mentor Tagged players for GM’s, and be more likely to believe anything they say. (however improbable)

re: “They’re like a free Commander Tag, it isn’t fair.”, etc… – If all you want is bling that lets you bee seen from space, then yes they serve the same function. But neither of these are really intended to be a vanity tag. And they are absolutely not the same at all.
The Mentor tag puts an icon over the player’s head, and an icon visible on the map for all players to see. And it adds a [Mentor] tag before your name in chat. And that’s all it does. The intent is for it to show players “Here is someone who is willing to help you. Someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy.”(Though like someone showing a Commander Tag, there is no guarantee they are actually competent or trustworthy.) The Mentor Tag does not give a special chat channel, the ability to form a squad, special map markers, visible map drawing or ping, etc… All it gives you is an overhead tag, a map tag, and a chat tag.
And you don’t need a Commander Tag to command a group, or a Mentor Tag to mentor new players. If you know what you’re doing, you can do both those things without a tag. It’s a nice aid, but not necessary. If you don’t know what you’re doing, neither of those things will give you any ability – they’ll just be bling that lets you be seen from space.
I bought a commander tag at the 100 gold + 250 Badges of Honor price, and I don’t regret it. I use it pretty much exclusively for organizing PvE events and Champ zergs.(I only really play PvE.) I use the Mentor Tag when I’m helping new players. Each has their own use. Would I still have purchased a Commander Tag if I knew that Mentor Tags were coming? I think so. Do I feel ripped off? Not really.

There is practically no use in squad chat in pve,as every activity ( maybe aside from triple trouble) requires no more than one tag. So map chat is all you need.
Mentors get chat title for free,coms don’t even get one.

You completely missed my point. Having a mentor systen isn’t the issue. It’s the sheer ease on actually getting it. Free + 30 minutes of events and you’re done. Therefor as a pve player getting a tag is utterly pointless since the mentor tag fills everyneed i had for tag.

And like it or not, bragging rights do exist. There is no justified reason to give the FREE tag better design(bigger scale,nicer tag,chat title)

re: In fact, it is even less useful with events as I can not join a party – You can join/be in a party with either of these tags. Unless something has changed in the last two days? A Commander cannot be a member of another squad, however.

re: There is practically no use in squad chat in pve – Squad chat has no suppression.

Running a commander tag in PvE is useless and annoying. WvW it is useful for running events and leading attacks. In PvE ut is comical. You don’t need a tag at world boss events with the exception of Tripled Threat and TQ. The Mentor tag is hopefully going to help those that need assistance in PvE.

ScribeTheMad.7614:

Misguided.5139:

Battelle nailed it.

Indeed he did.
Only thing I would add is we need a Mentor Abuse report function.

You can probably just use the normal reporting function for most cases. Unfortunately that does not cover if someone has a pattern of giving some obviously bad advice where any one line can be categorized as a ‘slip’.

Elden Arnaas.4870:

re: There is practically no use in squad chat in pve – Squad chat has no suppression.

Paying 300G to avoid supression. Alright big difference there. An entire year playing and i haven’t seen or heard of getting into a supression from explaining something in pve. Unless you’re one of those special snow flakes that type like this:
Don’t
Forget
To
Stack
On
M——(surpressed)

like it or not, bragging rights do exist. There is no justified reason to give the FREE tag better design(bigger scale,nicer tag,chat title)

ScribeTheMad.7614:

Maybe in cities and zones up to lvl 40?

I can agree with that. As others have said, by level 40 one should know what they are doing and wouldn’t really need a mentor anymore.

That being said, I don’t have a commander tag, nor do I foresee myself getting one anytime soon.

This sucks. Took me so long to get 300g for the commander tag. Now I can get one for free? -sign- I love Anets efforts and stuff, but a lot of things in the xpac are really like… screwing over players. If it’s not guilds, it’s this tag.

Elden Arnaas.4870:

re: In fact, it is even less useful with events as I can not join a party – You can join/be in a party with either of these tags. Unless something has changed in the last two days? A Commander cannot be a member of another squad, however.

Actually, in the squad interface they betaed during BWE3 you could not be a commander and in a party at the same time. I always do that for a defense party, as it helps to convince people to do the same if I have already done what I am asking of them.

Menadena.7482:

Elden Arnaas.4870:

re: In fact, it is even less useful with events as I can not join a party – You can join/be in a party with either of these tags. Unless something has changed in the last two days? A Commander cannot be a member of another squad, however.

Actually, in the squad interface they betaed during BWE3 you could not be a commander and in a party at the same time. I always do that for a defense party, as it helps to convince people to do the same if I have already done what I am asking of them.

Free tag is better than payed tag. 10/10 anet.

re: like it or not, bragging rights do exist. There is no justified reason to give the FREE tag better design(bigger scale,nicer tag,chat title) – I don’t care what it looks like. In fact, I think that the overhead tag looks kindof goofy, and I thought “Great, idiots won’t tag up with it just ‘cuz it’s cool looking bling”. As far as Mentor map tag looking cooler, better, etc… than the Commander map tag – ?? It’s maybe a little larger, and it’s only available in red.(Bling wearers can’t color coordinate or accessorize)

re: suppression – Well, even if you’re careful to vary your wording, suppression will still trigger at a certain threshold of map/say chats during a certain span of time. Suppression while commanding/organizing is absolutely a thing. If you haven’t seen it yet, it just means that you haven’t seen it yet. Squad chat would remedy this.(If you could get PvE players to join squads.) Which is why I brought up suppression when you said “There is practically no use in squad chat in pve”

Countess Aire.9410:

Running a commander tag in PvE is useless and annoying. WvW it is useful for running events and leading attacks. In PvE ut is comical. You don’t need a tag at world boss events with the exception of Tripled Threat and TQ. The Mentor tag is hopefully going to help those that need assistance in PvE.

Which is where I use it most of the time (Teq). Sometimes it helps on occasion to highlight where some event is for new people in starter zones but having a rainbow of tags at jungle wurm is just plain overkill.

re: Actually, in the squad interface they betaed during BWE3 you could not be a commander and in a party at the same time – Things change, especially from beta. Trust me, you can be a commander and in a party(even with another commander) I was in a party as a commander two days ago.
<edit>
I’m a Mentor and a Commander, so you can definitely trust me.
<edit: With the recent changes to commander functionality, this is no longer true. commanders can no longer be in a party.>

They should have never made it a visible cheap commander tag, it’s just a lot of visual noise as everyone and their mother is running around with it now.

Mentor should be a UI screen. Flag yourself, ticking boxes what you can help with. Others can search for those categories. If they contact you, then after that they see you with a tag. But only they do. To highlight you in the world for them.

Elden Arnaas.4870:

re: suppression – Well, even if you’re careful to vary your wording, suppression will still trigger at a certain threshold of map/say chats during a certain span of time. Suppression while commanding/organizing is absolutely a thing. If you haven’t seen it yet, it just means that you haven’t seen it yet.

/map could someone take turret 4 please?
Your message has been suppressed due to excessive messaging.

(yes, this was about the exact message I was sending once when it kicked in at Teq)

I am not sure who gets more frustrated. The commander or the rest of the players.

Didn’t they change the commander tag to require wvw badges when they upped the price and made it account wide, kinda specifically indicating it was intended for WvW purposes?

I understand that people bought it before that change, and many people used it for pve “commanding” in the absence of other options, but stop a moment and consider that the mentor tag being easier to obtain is intentional. Consider Anet doesn’t want people to have to go get a bunch of badges and toss off 300 gold just to coordinate teq, or run a champ train, or bounty, or whatever.

If you’re upset because you wouldn’t have bought a commander tag if mentoring had been avaliable to you, it’s understandable, but that commander tag has a specific function and abilities the mentor tag does not, and they justify its price point.

Just because you don’t use the dvd player, power windows, and aftermarket stereo in your car doesn’t mean the car should sell for cheaper.

Mentor tag was specifically implemented to fill a gap that the commander tag was never really designed for in the first place.

Honestly, I think they should just give the current owners the option of refunding them to the NPC. Problem solved!

Yes please. I would refund. I use my commander tag more like a mentor tag.

re: Mentor should be a UI screen – This is a good idea, except new players would probably have trouble figuring out how to use it. Maybe if Anet ever figures out how to do decent tutorial they could walk people through getting Mentor help. I really do like the idea.

re: They should have never made it a visible cheap commander tag – It’s not a Commander Tag. If you don’t know the difference, then there’s your problem. Just actually reading this thread would inform you how different they are. Never mind, y’know actually leaning how to use one.

Bottom line:
If all you want is “bling that lets you be seen from space” – Mentor tag is easier to get. (And some people think it’s flashier, cooler, etc..) But if all you want is a vanity tag, that isn’t what these are for.
They should just make a free, blockable vanity tag for all the fools that want them. That would take care of a lot of the Mentor Tag related complaining, IMO.

re: Mentor Tags should only work in Starter/low level areas – I’ve seen people that need mentoring in higher level areas, even in Orr.

Elden Arnaas.4870:

re: Mentor Tags should only work in Starter/low level areas – I’ve seen people that need mentoring in higher level areas, even in Orr.

Exactly. Do SOMETHING to at-least make the Mentor lesser to the com’s. Geez.

Just thought I would jump in and make a slight correction to something being said. Commander tags do get a chat title in squad chat.

I am actually glad that they did not add that to map chat or /say also. Then everyone will want to get a commander just to have the “prestige” of being called commander in map chat.

Also commander tags are getting a upgrade (squads are specifically). It is just not in the game yet as it broke things before. It should be in around the time raids hit. Mentors can not run squads.

anzenketh.3759:

Just thought I would jump in and make a slight correction to something being said. Commander tags do get a chat title in squad chat.

I am actually glad that they did not add that to map chat or /say also. Then everyone will want to get a commander just to have the “prestige” of being called commander in map chat.

Also commander tags are getting a upgrade (squads are specifically). It is just not in the game yet as it broke things before. It should be in around the time raids hit. Mentors can not run squads.

A title only in squad chat, while the mentors get it everywhere. Totally fair.

DaniTheHero.6318:

anzenketh.3759:

Just thought I would jump in and make a slight correction to something being said. Commander tags do get a chat title in squad chat.

I am actually glad that they did not add that to map chat or /say also. Then everyone will want to get a commander just to have the “prestige” of being called commander in map chat.

Also commander tags are getting a upgrade (squads are specifically). It is just not in the game yet as it broke things before. It should be in around the time raids hit. Mentors can not run squads.

A title only in squad chat, while the mentors get it everywhere. Totally fair.

I am actually glad that they did not add a chat title to map chat or /say also. Then everyone will want to get a commander just to have the “prestige” of being called commander in map chat.

It is not about being fair it is about what is best for the game. Want the chat title get the required mastery.

re: Want the chat title get the required mastery. – The chat title is Mentor, which (in this context) means “I’m actively looking to help other players.” not “Hey I’m a rock star”. What prestige is there in having [Mentor] before your name in chat? Especially if you aren’t actually mentoring? What prestige would there be in having [Commander] before your name in chat? Especially if you aren’t actually commanding? All it tells people is you either have first level Pact Mastery, or that you at some point had 100 or 300 gold.
Neither tag is that hard to get. By themselves they don’t mean anything. It’s what you do with them.

Well at least you can change colors with the com tag right? :P

But yeah. Mentor tag is turning into another glorified “hey look at me”. Out of all I have seen only 1 was activity mentoring.

someone in map chat just asked how he activates his mentor tag.

What a mentor that is….

re: someone in map chat just asked how he activates his mentor tag. / What a mentor that is…. – I don’t know whether I consider that more funny or more sad. It is some delicious irony, though.

I think they should just make them smaller, , and people should have the option to not see them, they come in handy in a lot of situations.

DaniTheHero.6318:

like it or not, bragging rights do exist. There is no justified reason to give the FREE tag better design(bigger scale,nicer tag,chat title)

Bragging Right? Nw you are over your head mister. After 3 Years almost everyone has a Comm TAG? Do you think you are special because you farmed cute 300 gold? Seriously?

I would like to have a report option for Commanders too. There are so many uncapable Players with Tags out there it hurts to watch them command. Most of the time they use the zerg to self profit anyway.