On the scarcity of advisors

[Bragan]

I don't really know where this goes, I'm guessing here since this would be where people interested in helping newbs would hang out. I've asked for help using /advisor a few times, once there weren't any at all the other times I simply never got an answer, though in all cases I eventually got my problem licked, usually with some help from the IRC channel. I have recently taken to volunteering myself as an advisor, and from what I've been hearing from my advisees there really aren't that many around. I suspect some of this may be that advisor mode is reset every connection, but I think most of it is simply that people don't bother to turn it on in the first place. So I come here with a petition to all of you: go ahead and type /advisormode on, and help out where you can. It's nothing that you don't already do here, except you'll be reaching more people (most people won't register a forum account for a simple question).

[Sen]

This mode should indeed be used more often. From my experience there are between none and two people that give advices.
Some hints for newbies should also be included somewhere (guide, tutorial?) that "I need help" "What do I say now" are not really specific questions - but specific questions are needed so I know if I should try to claim the advice session.

Sen

(uhm... are we in right forum? )

[Mrokii]

Forgive me my ignorance but I must have missed that matter completely. Do I understand right, that *everyone* can be an advisor? Upto now I thought these would be some kind of officials. And I thought you'd have to have a certain knowledge to become an advisor. If that isn't the case, I'd have no problem with trying it out and give advice if I can.

[Sen]

Everyone can be advisor 

Knowledge is useful of course, but in many cases not really needed because it is about basics. And it can be funny

"What do I do now?"
Sen

[Mordraugion]

The number and quality of advisors varies over time and GM's do login to monitor the quality of the advice given

[Mrokii]

another question: Would it be okay if I'd turn advisormode on without answering questions for some time, just to see "how to do it"? i wouldn't want to start answering questions right away if I am not absolutely sure what's appropriate and what's not. I found the "advice for advisors"-thread by the way, which explains things, but I still would rather like to listen at first than answering right away.

[hitancrias]

I am by no means an official, but I'd say just turn it on if you want to help other players! Most questions come from people who just logged on for the first time, so most likely you will be able to answer some of the questions right away. Also, listening to advice given by other advisors is a very good way to learn about the game and the latest developments fast.

[Beniel]

Yep, as long as you don't claim sessions that you can't help with, I don't see a problem with turning on advisor mode at all.

[SerqFeht]

That's okay, but be careful, as you might be the only advisor. Then, people start realising there is an advisor for once, and the window gets flooded. I'll post some simple advice to give for basic questions on that advice for advisors page, so if you activate it and find yourself alone, you'll be able to survive. 

[Mrokii]

That's okay, but be careful, as you might be the only advisor. Then, people start realising there is an advisor for once, and the window gets flooded. I'll post some simple advice to give for basic questions on that advice for advisors page, so if you activate it and find yourself alone, you'll be able to survive. 

thank you very much. And thanks for all the others. I will give the advisormode a try asap.

[Zan]

I gave up on advising people since there was always someone faster in answerring questions than me ... half of the time because they answerred them half-assed or sometimes even gave plain rude responces. Maybe I should give it another shot though.

[Rayken]

You should!  And if you see someone giving advice that you find half-assed, rude, or wrong, you should feel free send them a /tell explaining what they are doing wrong. Politely, of course.  I monitor the help channel whenever I'm logged in, and very often there is no one around to answer even simple questions, so I often end up advising myself.

[SerqFeht]

I do it when I get a chance.

Do GMs currently have the ability to relieve ineffective advisors? I saw it was in the bugtracker to ban them from advising. I only ever advised at the same time as one other person one time. They gave decent advice, but it could have been more fleshed out.

[Caarrie]

Do GMs currently have the ability to relieve ineffective advisors? I saw it was in the bugtracker to ban them from advising. I only ever advised at the same time as one other person one time. They gave decent advice, but it could have been more fleshed out.

No GM2+ will be able to come the next release.

[Dajoji]

Normally a friendly /tell does the trick if someone's advice is not that helpful but yes, soon we'll have means to make sure bad advisors stay off the channel.