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VN Player Mentors Wanted (for Science!)


Tay

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I've played all of those listed visual novels except for Katawa Shoujo and I've been doing something similar to this for my old college anime club and would be happy to be a mentor/suggest/help others here on this site as well. So go ahead and sign me up.

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I actually concur. As with the BM program (for the most part, that is), this is fairly redundant with everything the forums do already and is a big waste of manpower that could be used to create actual content in one way or another, which is what we need way more. Having a good flow for new users of the site will serve us better than anything else could at this point.

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I don't know much of the purpose of this program yet, but I think the point of it is to help build friendships in the community. Unlike the BM program, this seems to be a more informal thing. Yes you can go to the recommendation sub forum to find VNs to read next, and when you finish a VN, you could always try to get a discussion going on VN talk. But personally, most of the interesting discussions I had on VNs happened over E-mail or pm. A VN mentor program would allow people the opportunity to find somebody to talk to VNs with, in a more personal way (since forums are kind of impersonal). The goal seems to be to create personal connections around that VNs people like.

 

For example if somebody is new to VNs and loves Clannad, and they get me as a mentor. Then I could privately talk to them about Clannad and introduce them to Kanon, ONE~, Air and all the KEY classics. When they read say ONE~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~ (technically not KEY, but made by many of the people who originally founded KEY), they might have a lot of thoughts they want to share, but can't find anyone to discuss it with. That's when they would pm their mentor (me) and we could have an involved discussion on ONE~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~. The role of having mentors is to help personalize the community I think ^_^. Of course these are just my thoughts and I could be completely wrong.  

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This sounds like something I'd be willing to hop on.  I've completed all three routes of F/SN, and I've played the others on the list to varying degrees.  Favorite VN would have to be Umineko.

 

Preferred mentee amount would have to be two, maybe three at most.  Not sure whether or not mentees will get cycled in and out with the introduction of new members yet, but it seems likely if usership really starts kicking up.

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I don't know much of the purpose of this program yet, but I think the point of it is to help build friendships in the community. Unlike the BM program, this seems to be a more informal thing. Yes you can go to the recommendation sub forum to find VNs to read next, and when you finish a VN, you could always try to get a discussion going on VN talk. But personally, most of the interesting discussions I had on VNs happened over E-mail or pm. A VN mentor program would allow people the opportunity to find somebody to talk to VNs with, in a more personal way (since forums are kind of impersonal). The goal seems to be to create personal connections around that VNs people like.

 

For example if somebody is new to VNs and loves Clannad, and they get me as a mentor. Then I could privately talk to them about Clannad and introduce them to Kanon, ONE~, Air and all the KEY classics. When they read say ONE~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~ (technically not KEY, but made by many of the people who originally founded KEY), they might have a lot of thoughts they want to share, but can't find anyone to discuss it with. That's when they would pm their mentor (me) and we could have an involved discussion on ONE~Kagayaku Kisetsu e~. The role of having mentors is to help personalize the community I think ^_^. Of course these are just my thoughts and I could be completely wrong.

But this is aimed towards people who are new to VNs. Does this imply that veterans do not have the privilege to have 'personalized' discussions? This reminds me of one of those 'reading buddies' I had in elementary school. To my experience, there isn't much discussion involved (one person has biased opinions, and the other agrees with everything the mentor says out of sheer admiration ). Something like a reading circle is far more productive, and we already have plenty of groups doing that right now.

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But this is aimed towards people who are new to VNs. Does this imply that veterans do not have the privilege to have 'personalized' discussions? This reminds me of one of those 'reading buddies' I had in elementary school. To my experience, there isn't much discussion involved (one person has biased opinions, and the other agrees with everything the mentor says out of sheer admiration ). Something like a reading circle is far more productive, and we already have plenty of groups doing that right now.

 

o.O That happened to you too. Honestly you raise fair points. The only counter argument I can currently think of is that this Mentor program would make Fuwanovel even more newbie friendly than it already is. It would provide newcomers an opportunity to get to know an experienced member, which in the long term could increase their loyalty to this site. There are a lot of people who sign up, and only make like 3 posts (if even) and then never come back. This might be used as a method to counter that problem. 

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The volunteers keep coming! Wonderful! 

 

I've attached a brief outine of how this trial run is going to work. We won't start it until next week, but I'd like to put it out there in case anybody has any thoughts they'd like to input (plus I think I answered a lot of the questions in there). One question I know I didn't get to asked if part of the mentorship program would require mentors to hawk Fuwanovel products/sites. The answer is pretty simple: part of your job is to give your mentee a little pdf guidebook, and yes, I've included a blurb in there about each Fuwanovel site. So in that sense, yes you do, but I don't think that's unreasonable considering where they're getting the free guidebook : P. Other than attaching that to the first email/posting a link in your first PM, your only obligation in my mind if Fuwa comes up in the conversation is to fairly speak your mind (good, bad, neutral, whatever you might feel about that part of the site). My main priority is to make this a good experience for you and your mentee. Relax, be open, be yourself, and be friendly. Fuwa neither requires nor needs blood oaths : P.

 

 

 

I'm going to have a test group coming through the program next week, and I'm planning on giving them all more than one "mentor" to try and give all of you a turn : P.

 

I've been around the VN scene for a while, and I think this is the first time anybody's ever done this. We're all learning here : P, the trick is to have fun and not overthink or overcomplicate it. The gist of the program is getting two people together and having one say to the other, "Hey, glad you're trying this out. I love the game you're playing and I just want you to know I'm here if you want to geek out about it or you've got questions about games, ok?" The program isn't meant to be regimented. It's not meant to be over-scripted. The the last thing any new VN player needs is to be cryptically contacted in the dead of night by an assigned "VN Mentor" who wants to lecture to them (admittedly, accurately) that Sakura is the best girl and that FSN is the best thing to be written since Hemmingway was alive. (I mean, yes, we all have to get there eventually, but that's just scary/culty). The program's meant to be helpful and mentors are supposed to be themselves. It's okay if it's low-key.

 

Here's how it's going to work:

  • I've got a fresh group of new VN players who have agreed to try out the program, but I'm going to try and wrangle in a few more before we start this trial run
  • Before any mentee even talks to you, I (or somebody helping me out with the project) will have received their application and sent them a basic idea of what to expect, including the rules of the mentorship program (which are mostly there to make sure no mentor or mentee gets creepy) and some thoughts from the Fuwa staff. They'll also be given an option of whether they want to talk to you by email or by PM. (I'll also explain what's going to happen so they have clear expectations)
  • Mentors will be given a brief, little pdf guidebook to email to their mentees (full of basic info) at the time you get your mentee assignments
  • Your first contact with the mentee needs to be loosely based off a template we give you (who you are, a little bit about you, your experience with VNs, explaining that your job is to be around if they have questions, ask them what their first VN is going to be and let them know you'd enjoy chatting about it, encouraging them to post in the "Introduce Yourself" forum, etc.)
  • If you end up getting a response from your mentee, then great! What follows is up to you two. Try to be helpful and try to get them engaged. 
  • Don't feel the need to rush anything. If you haven't heard from them in a few days, drop them a line and ask how they're doing or if they want any suggestions for their next game. (etc. etc.)
  • If a mentor/mentee feels like they just aren't going to get along, we can reassign them. If one party asks the other to stop contacting them, part of the contract of mentor-mentee is to do as they ask.

 

This first round isn't going to be pretty but that's okay because we're going to learn a lot. If we can do well enough this round, then we're going to do great in the future when we've got a full Fuwa Academy section on the front site to help guide players.

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Screw it, I'm in. I'm perfectly capable of scaring away the newly condemned being a nice mentor for people.....

Uh, uhm, er... Sorry, Rooke, post 41 is an unlucky number in... somewhere... and so i can't accept your application. But anybody else can apply -- just not the guy on, ehm, unlucky post 41.

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What should we do in terms of the torrents?  I know Katawa Shoujo will probably be our go-to since the rest are heading offline, but this still doesn't leave us with much leeway in finding something closer to the mentee's tastes.  It's especially an issue for someone like me who would prefer not to use google for searching for torrents, since the chances of viruses are so high and the downloads themselves often incredibly risky.  This is doubly so when it's the mentee's virus-free-ness being put at risk as well.

 

Would we just get a link to a secure source from a fellow Fuwa member?  Or is sticking with KS and keeping an eye out for steam sales all we can do until things start to pick up more?  Does anybody have advice in this regard?

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What should we do in terms of the torrents?  I know Katawa Shoujo will probably be our go-to since the rest are heading offline, but this still doesn't leave us with much leeway in finding something closer to the mentee's tastes.  It's especially an issue for someone like me who would prefer not to use google for searching for torrents, since the chances of viruses are so high and the downloads themselves often incredibly risky.  This is doubly so when it's the mentee's virus-free-ness being put at risk as well.

 

Would we just get a link to a secure source from a fellow Fuwa member?  Or is sticking with KS and keeping an eye out for steam sales all we can do until things start to pick up more?  Does anybody have advice in this regard?

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What should we do in terms of the torrents?  I know Katawa Shoujo will probably be our go-to since the rest are heading offline, but this still doesn't leave us with much leeway in finding something closer to the mentee's tastes.  It's especially an issue for someone like me who would prefer not to use google for searching for torrents, since the chances of viruses are so high and the downloads themselves often incredibly risky.  This is doubly so when it's the mentee's virus-free-ness being put at risk as well.

 

Would we just get a link to a secure source from a fellow Fuwa member?  Or is sticking with KS and keeping an eye out for steam sales all we can do until things start to pick up more?  Does anybody have advice in this regard?

Working on it, but yeah, the test group will probably self-select for planetarian, KS, Narcissu, or other licensed games. Kind of depends on who signs up. I'll keep you posted.

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o.O That happened to you too. Honestly you raise fair points. The only counter argument I can currently think of is that this Mentor program would make Fuwanovel even more newbie friendly than it already is. It would provide newcomers an opportunity to get to know an experienced member, which in the long term could increase their loyalty to this site. There are a lot of people who sign up, and only make like 3 posts (if even) and then never come back. This might be used as a method to counter that problem. 

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