Ok, as someone who has done a fair amount of teaching

(cuz I like to)

let me point out that the mentor point system seems to reward large groups of friends... not, as I think it was intended, to promote teaching new players skills.

the people who have actually gotten the 3rd mentor medal appear to be those who mentored every moving object around them. Whether or not they actually helped out.

Furthermore, most of the ways in which people REALLY mentor other people, are not represented by the mentor point awarding system.

People gain a mentor point when their student gains a level. Forget the fact that they may have learned to fight 9/10 of their fellow pilots. Or learned what was an interesting strategy to take against particular ships.

I feel uncomfortable asking a student to choose me as a mentor. Not only is it a slightly complicated command. But I'd like to think that I'm adding something to the universe by getting people interested in PvP. Not trying to get some special battery.

I can't think of any systematic good way to do this. Apart from guides taking special note of people who are doing their best to improve the community. This appears to be the only unexploitable feature. (assuming that the guides are incorruptable0

the whole mentor system is worthless in my opinion, people just use it to get discounts, IF it's working. I've had friends just get an invite, do nothing to mentor and receive there rating. What's the point, you didn't have to do anything to get this badge, and yet you can reap the rewards of it?

I understand what the intent of this badge was suppost to be used for, but honestly I don't see it happening that way. And the fact that it doesn't even do what it's suppost to, to me, means that it's just a waste of code. Nix the whole thing I say.

I agree that mentoring is easy to abuse, but it certainly has had some benefit. In their quest to get higher mentor medals, I have see players help out a lot more on channel 1. Yes, they're probably not putting their hearts into it, but they are helping.

I think the mentor medal, even as it's been implemented, was a great idea. Can it be improved? I won't argue with that.

I think it might be a bit better (though still abuseable) if there was a more convenient way for new players to find a mentor. This is one possibility:

Potential mentors sign up for a mentor license by talking to a Marshal bot or something, exactly the same way as with bounty hunter license.

New players would have an easy way of finding a mentor who is currently online. Perhaps they could be presented with with a dialog asking if they'd like a mentor (probably after finishing the tutorial mission). Or there could be a special tab for low-level players in stations.

The dialog would display other players who have a mentor license of the same faction, sorted by closest first. Click on a player name and click "request mentor". Or it could simply be a yes/no option, and the server would indicate to the newbie "searching for an available mentor", while asking the nearby mentors if they are free/willing to mentor. An affirmative response would send a message to both parties, and tell the mentor which sector the newbie is in. Otherwise it would ask the next closest player, or inform the newbie that there isn't anyone available, and perhaps point them to the help channel.

This is certainly as open to abuse to players that would abuse it as the current system, but perhaps would make the process easier for players who want a mentor, and more convenient for people who actually want to help new players.

that's actually not that bad an idea. Perhaps until level 3/3/3/3/3 and out of diapers, whenever said newbie logs in the names of active mentors online would show up like your buddy list, and a small blurb about /msg'ing them if they need assistance. Mentoring someone over 3/3/3/3/3 would not count towards the medal though as they should be fairly familiar with most of the game by then.