DoF Mentor Program Info! (Pairings Now On DoF Standings)

[Goldglo]

Hi kids!

We’d like to unveil (thanks to inspiration that hit Kheldar) a new program for DoF designed to foster additional role-play in the game and encourage additional relationship building between characters, as well as potential rivalries.

This program will establish a unique relationship between upper and lower ranked duelers designed to potentially assist those of lower rank with in-game benefits. Those characters with a rank of Emerald/Opal/Diamond (hereafter referred to as Mentors) will be able to take a lower ranked dueler (Glass, Jade, Ruby, hereafter referred to as Mentees) under their wing for guidance and training. The Mentor/Mentee title is OOC only; feel free to use whatever titles you want to IC based on your characters and preference (sensei-student, master-understudy, etc.).

During matches where their Mentor is both a) present and b) `paying attention’, the Mentee will receive an in-game benefit of 1 more modifier than their current rank allows. Thus, Glass would get 1 mod, Jade 3 mods, and Rubies 4 mods. By ‘paying attention’, we mean that the Mentor can’t simply be lurking in the chatroom, calling duels, or dueling themselves. The idea is that the Mentor would be coaching their Mentee from outside the ring, giving advice, pointers, etc. without external distraction.

You’ll notice that we’ve left Sapphires out of the equation; the reasoning for this is twofold. First, it’s rare for someone to remain at Sapphire very long (people either slide back to Ruby or, more often than not, push to Emerald). Secondly, giving Sapphires an additional modifier would put them on par with Emeralds (6 mods) which we didn’t want to do from a game-mechanics standpoint.

This Mentor-Mentee relationship is entirely role-play based. A Mentor can dismiss a Mentee and a Mentee can leave their Mentor’s tutelage at any time; however, Mentees will only receive the additional modifier benefit if they are currently studying under a Mentor. Players of a Mentor may not have one of their other characters as a Mentee under their Mentor character.

Initially, Emeralds and Opals will be able to take on one (1) Mentee each with the Diamond allowed two (2) Mentees. If a Mentor successfully sees a Mentee all the way through to Emerald rank (the Mentee would stop receiving the 1 additional modifier benefit at Sapphire, but the role-play relationship would ideally continue on), that Mentor would then be allowed to take on an additional Mentee (i.e. if Koy gets a Mentee to Emerald, she could then have 2 new simultaneous Mentees if she wanted). Should the Diamond lose rank and have two Mentees, he/she would be allowed to keep their Mentees despite being ranked at Emerald/Opal; however, the ex-Diamond would not be able to undertake a new Mentee unless their current Mentees promote to Emerald, abandon their Mentor, or are dismissed by their Mentor. To begin with, Emeralds/Opals will cap at two (2) Mentees and the Diamond will cap at three (3) Mentees.

Please feel free to start pairing up immediately; we’ll give everyone a few weeks to get things started and find partners. We’ll have a Mentor-Mentee Tag Team Tournament to officially kick things off, tentatively set for early June (exact times/dates forthcoming soon). We’re still developing the system by which callers will be able to track Mentors-Mentees so that this system doesn’t become burdensome on anyone to keep tabs on. If anyone would like to volunteer their help in this regard, we would greatly appreciate the assistance!

We encourage everyone to make use of this new system and most importantly, have fun with it!


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January 9, 2014 Clarifications

The mentee can receive the additional in-game modifier regardless of whether their mentor was present at the beginning of the duel.*

*If this rule continues to lead to confusion/drama/problems, we will add additional notification responsibilities to the player of the mentored character which they will be required to fulfill before being granted the additional modifier even if the mentor is actively mentoring. For now, we are trying to keep things as simple and hassle-free as possible. Please keep this in mind.

The mentee can receive the additional in-game modifier during challenge duels (in the rare case that a low-ranked character is involved in a challenge) and some tournament duels, unless tournament rules or specific challenge rules have an overriding qualifier. For example, if a Slugfest tournament caps modifiers at a certain number, a mentored character will not have use of a bonus modifier during that tournament. If a tournament allows all entrants to fight “at rank” and does not expressly state that mentor assistance is not allowed, mentor modifiers would be in play.

The bonus/additional modifier granted by the mentor applies last, after all natural modifiers. In other words, all natural modifiers are utilized first, before the additional/bonus modifier.

Examples:

1) Ruby A, actively being mentored, uses 3 modifiers. Their mentor then stops mentoring and begins their own duel. Ruby A does not have a 4th modifier to utilize.

2) Jade B, actively being mentored, uses one modifier. Their mentor departs, meaning no active mentoring is taking place. Jade B has one additional modifier for use in the duel as Jades naturally receive 2 in-game modifiers.

3) Ruby C has used 3 modifiers during the course of a duel. Their mentor arrives and begins active mentoring. Ruby C now has a 4th modifier at their disposal assuming the mentor continues with the mentoring until the modifier is used.

4) Jade D has used one modifier during a duel. Their mentor arrives and begins actively mentoring. Jade D uses a 2nd modifier during that period of active mentoring. The mentor then departs or stops actively mentoring. Jade D does not have a 3rd modifier for use.


Edited to Add 10/30/2020: The mentee/mentor relationship must be reflected on standings before the extra modifier can be used.

[Lydia Loran]

I like this lots.

[Locke DVestavio]

Me too!

[Rena A Cronin]

Me three.

[Uriko Belarus]

Good idea. It'd be fun to Roleplay this out as well!

[Goldglo]

Program Pairs (As of 1/9/14, refer to the Standings)

The Standings now do a much better job of tracking current mentor-mentee relationships than this thread. As such, please refer to the Standings for mentor-mentee status.

The Standings must reflect the relationship before the additional modifier becomes available to the mentee.

Please feel free to continue to use this thread in order to seek out mentors/mentees.

--Matt

[Candy Hart]

I fought with Candy last Wednesday, she hasn't been added to the ranks yet... but she won her first fight (yay)!

Would anyone like to try and mentor her? ^^

[Lydia Loran]

Might be a good idea if the people who are interested in this (ie, seeking mentor or willing to take a mentee) actually post so players know where to go and such to set these things up.

[DamienRavnos]

Sounds like an interesting idea, Damien would be more than happy to enter mentorship!

[Soerl Lute]

I think Soerl could use a mentor as well. If anyone'd like to, just PM or email me, we'll work it out.

[Grayson]

I plan on having Grayson around a lot more in the future. I think he'd be willing to take on a mentee if the roleplaying chemistry was there. Shoot me a PM to discuss!

[Goldglo]

I have a few characters with whom I can mentor ::nodnodnod::

[Erasmus]

Very nice. I think it will not only add more depth to the game, but it will encourage more IC interaction. Although I have been dueling on and off for about six years, my character is fairly new and doesn't know too many characters in the realm of Rhydin... Hopefully this will give Erasmus a chance to meet and interact with others...

[Goldglo]

5 pairs so far, folks! A few more and we can get the tournament announced!

[DamienRavnos]

Damien still is looking for a mentor, PM me if you are interested!