Mentoring Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in the Last Hope mentorship program. Mentoring is defined as a close relationship between a new player and an experienced player who provides guidance, support and insight in an individualized manner.
Last Hope recognizes that the mentoring of new players by their peers is an integral part of the character building experience. The responsibilities of the Mentor are broad and diverse. They include, but are not limited to serving as a role model, advising on, or helping to find rules and requirements, and providing instruction in specific trades or skills as well as helping their Protégé identify or practice their ideal character builds.
New players most important responsibilities are; to ensure they are open to and accepting of peer mentoring and that they articulate their needs effectively. So that, together, Mentor and Protégé identify and discuss their goals and expectations for each other, and outline approaches to reach those goals and satisfy those expectations.
Basic mentoring practices include guiding new players through Last Hopes standards and practices, codes of conduct (Will Wheaton’s law, spirit of the rules), skill and trade requirements, faction and character backgrounds, and work study.
During the three month mentoring period, new players will shadow their Mentor and are free to, quietly, ask any game related questions they may have. In the interest of greater development and understanding, the Mentor is encouraged to briefly apprentice their Mentee to other veteran players who demonstrate proficiency in an area of interest to their Protégé.
Mentors are responsible for:
- Respecting their Protégé, including the their identity including race, ethnicity, gender and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political beliefs, socio-economic class, or any of the other differences among people.
- Assisting new players in the identification of support networks (people who can help them develop different aspects of their character).
- Being their Protégé’s advocate and assisting them in a timely manner in finding resources to develop a greater understanding of the Last Hope world and fill in information gaps.
- Addressing problems or challenges that could affect their Protégé’s success as a player as soon as they become aware of them.
- Tailoring, modifying or adjusting your mentoring style to the particular needs of each new player, to a reasonable extent.
- Encouraging an open exchange of ideas by empowering new players to independently develop and contribute story ideas of their own whenever feasible.
- Checking regularly on progress. Last Hope recognizes that each Mentor and Protégé should agree upon a reasonable frequency of meetings and communications, which may vary widely by pair, but should not occur less than once per month
- Encouraging and giving feedback on written work.
- Encouraging and facilitating participation in the skills and trades that have deemed of interest.
- Helping the new player in identifying appropriate resources for character guidance.
- Fostering a welcoming atmosphere for new players and providing introductions and background information on players, staff, characters, factions, etc.
- Actively participating with and supporting your Protégé in their training.
Click here for the Player Contract that Mentors will go through with Proteges.
Protégés responsibilities include:
- Respecting their Mentor, including their identity including race, ethnicity, gender and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political beliefs, socio-economic class, or any of the other differences among people.
- Seeking assistance from multiple individuals to fulfill the mentoring roles described above, because one person may not be able to satisfy all of a new players mentoring needs.
- Understanding and clearly articulating to their mentors their own mentoring needs and how they change through their learning period.
- Respecting their mentor’s other responsibilities and time commitments.
- Communicating regularly with their mentors including updates on progress, challenges, needs, and goals.
- Actively participating in the individual skills training that is being offered.
- Acting in a manner that encourages an enjoyable gaming environment.
- Seeking information, and exploring options.
Click here to sign up for a mentor (New Players)
Click here to become a mentor (Long-time Players)