What do you enjoy most about mentoring?
Nurturing people. It's a blast to see someone getting interested, developing a new skill, and sharing it with others.
Seshat takes care of the guild and it's facilites for the most part, while MarvL is more likely to be exploring and wandering around.
What do you find most difficult about mentoring?
Expired accounts. Standing by as interesting new people come to the conclusion that ATITD is not their cup of tea, and cleaning up what's left of their hopes and dreams.
Where do you find it easier to mentor - on the island or the mainland, and why?
The mainland. There's far more to get your teeth into on the mainland. The players who are the most likely to enjoy ATITD are those who need very little assistance on the island. The island is more about name recognition than assistance.
Many of our news member come to the Sunset group after they've been in ATITD for a couple of months, and have come to realize that it's time to associate themselves with a loosly structured group that plays the game at a fairly comprehensive level.
How would you describe your mentoring style?
Shared success. My main concern is that new players have the opportunity, and take the time, to become skillful. There's a lot to learn in ATITD, and if you don't learn it now, you'll suffer for it later when you lack a necessary skill.
What's the most important thing to teach / do for a new player?
How to find stuff. We've set up a couple of veneries (guided tours) so that folks can explore both the equipment in our guild compound and, equally, how to find stuff on the wiki.
What's the best, or easiest, kind of student to teach?
Experimenters. It's easier to answer this question in reverse. Folks who are either very needy or very independent are equally hard to teach. Folks need to do their own work, gathering clay and wood and the like, but they need to be equally willing to accept help with bottleneck items, making jugs and getting leather and mining.
What problems have you encountered while mentoring, and how were they resolved?
Burn outs. It's far too easy to become infatuated with the game, and then crash and burn when the rest of your life catches up with you. If somebody is trying "too hard", and getting frustrated, I ask them how long it's been since they.ve read a bood, or seen a good movie.
What makes you a 'good' mentor?
Good science. Close enough isn't good enough for most of the folks in the
Sunset Guilds. Our focus is on
How things actually work. We do a lot of experimentation, and we very much enjoy making the most of what the game has to offer.
If your objective to level and pass the formal tests as quickly as possible, our slow pace will drive you crazy. Just getting by isn't very interesting, the way we see it.