6.13 Mentors

The mentoring system in Imperian is a system that is designed to ensure a
friendly reception into Imperian 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.

Mentors and Proteges receive the following bonuses:

 - The mentor receives a 15% bonus in bound credits for the first four
   purchases the protege makes.

 - Proteges can learn up to 233 lessons at a time from their mentor.

 - The teaching bonus will be doubled when a protege is learning from
   a mentor.

 - If both the protege and the mentor are in the same ring and in the 
   same room, they both receive a 5% bonus to experience gained.

If you wish to get rid of a mentor, simply type REJECT MENTOR <reason for
doing so> and it shall be done. Remember however that if you have played more
than 50 hours, or bought credits, you will not be able to take a new 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 responsibilities
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
Imperian, 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 protege, first.

We take the position of mentor seriously, and if your mentor is not performing
his duties, then you should report him or her to a God.

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.

There are two command you may find useful when working with your protege, PROTEGE SKILLS <player> and PROTEGE SCORE <player>.

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 occasionally, 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 Imperian history!  If you wish to
mentor - do it.  You are informed when new mortals arrive in Imperian for the
first time and graduate - 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 Imperian who are not taking
seriously the great honor that has been bestowed upon them.  Their motives lay
in the gifts that the Creator so generously offered those who would sacrifice
of themselves so.  The reward for mentorship lies not in such vague and
amorphous things as "lessons" and "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 the newbie areas of your circle inside and out?

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

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