6.13 MENTORS

The mentoring system in Lusternia is a system that is designed to ensure a friendly reception into Lusternia by newbies. When an older player (who must have at least 300 hours of playing time, and be at least level 50) offers to become your mentor, you may AGREE if you wish to become his protege, or do nothing to politely refuse.

If you wish to get rid of a mentor, simply type RENOUNCE MENTOR <reason for doing so> and it shall be done.

**Note: if you have played for more than 50 hours or you have bought credits, you cannot take a mentor.

In return for taking on the responsibilities of a mentor, the mentor has a chance to profit, if you become a more serious player. These responsibilites are essentially those of answering any questions you might have, and helping you to help yourself. For instance, while a mentor might give you a bit of gold and some basic equipment, generally they would rather help you to help learn to get the gold yourself, so that you can equip yourself.

A mentor should, unless urgently busy (for instance, involved in a fight with another player), take the time to patiently answer your questions about Lusternia, and should be willing to take you to areas of the game that you need to get to, and generally be a source of advice for you. Remember: a mentor is supposed to generally put himself second, and you, the protegee, first.

We take the position of mentor seriously, and if your mentor is not performing his duties, then you should ISSUE him. See HELP ISSUES for more details.

Once you have reached level 50 and have played for at least 300 hours, you may take on proteges. The file HELP FORMENTORS will tell you more.

Before you take on proteges, consider the following:

A protege is someone who you are charged to help on a regular basis. Simply helping a newbie now and then is not sufficient. If you just wish to help a newbie occassionally, by all means, do so! But, given that proteges can take up a lot of time, it's probably best not to overextend yourself. Remember, the honor and joy that comes in aiding the young and knowing that you played a crucial and perhaps even pivotal role in the life of a young adventurer that may perhaps, one day change the course of Lusternian history! If you wish to mentor - do it. You are informed when new mortals arrive in Lusternia for the first time - seek them out and help them if this is what you truly wish - otherwise, you may need to re-examine your motives for the truth is this. There are far too many mentors in Lusternia who are not taking seriously the great honor that has been bestowed upon them. Their motives lay in the gifts that Estarra so generously offered those who would sacrifice their time and energy so. The reward for mentorship lies not in such vague and amorphous things like "credits", but in a relationship built and a young mind molded to be the best it can be.

Ask yourself these specific questions before applying to become a mentor:

1) Are you dedicated to sharing your knowledge of this realm with the young and inexperienced for the sake of their enlightenment with no thought of ulterior motive?

2) Do you have the heart of a servant and will you loyally commit yourself to the honor and responsibility that comes in taking on a protegee?

3) Have you already sought out the young and done your best to serve them so that the desire spoken of by your lips is already reflected in your life and actions?

4) Do you have a strong working knowledge of those quests and opportunities for advancement that the young are provided with in these lands? Particularly, do you know Newton inside and out?

5) Are you aware of how to recognize and approach those who have freshly and naively arrived in Lusternia?

If you can answer all these questions with, "Yes," then congratulations, you have my blessing. Go and be that which you desire.

Mentor Bonus:
 - Grouping with a mentor will give both of you 5% experience bonus.
 - Proteges learning from a mentor can learn up to 125 lessons per session.