Hello railroaders,
Today, we’d like to introduce you to a new feature that will soon arrive on our servers: the mentoring programme. This feature will facilitate the social interaction between veteran players and newcomers in Rail Nation and make it easier for new players to get started in the game.
What is the mentoring programme?
As a new player, it’s not always easy to navigate a game interface you’re not familiar with. You might be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of features and options contained in the game. While the tutorial can introduce a player to the different features, the real use of those features only becomes clear once a player engages with them regularly and gains experience in playing the game. To make sure players are no longer left alone in the initial phase of their game, we will provide them with a mentor in the future.
It’s important to know that this mentoring programme is voluntary for both parties involved. Experienced players are given the chance to aid new players with their experience and provide them with tips. If the new player likes those tips, the mentor will receive a little reward for their effort.
How will communication between the mentor and student work?
As soon as a student has been assigned to a mentor, they will see a small tile on their screen. Using this tile, they can access the overview of all their students and contact them directly. Until the mentor contacts the student, the latter will not find out about this connection.
Once contact has been made, the student can also use a pop-up feature if they have any questions. After the initial contact, communication can of course also be continued via the messaging system. To make sure both participants can easily recognise each other, they are marked in all lists with a special icon that only they can see.
Who can become a mentor?
We placed the threshold for ‘experienced players’ at career level 10. Suitable players will see an intro screen upon their first login. There, they can also decide if they wish to take part in the programme. This setting can be changed later via the options menu. Everyone who has reached at least career level 10 and who hasn’t left or been kicked from the mentoring programme can take part. By default, every player meeting these criteria is unlocked as a potential mentor.
Who can be a student?
As soon as a new player (career level 1) has upgraded their engine house to level 4, they will automatically take part in the programme and appear in the list of potential students. As soon as they’ve completed all of the tutorial tasks or reached career level 2, they will leave the programme.
Is there something I need to know about participating in the programme?
One mentor can have a maximum of 3 students at the same time and no more than 10 per game round. Additionally, mentors need to log in at least every 3 days, so as not to be removed from the programme (sitter logins don’t count here). If too many students are unhappy with their mentor’s help or the mentor is too inactive, they will be removed from the mentoring programme.
You’ll be able to see the mentoring programme in action on your server soon! We wish you lots of fun and travel safely!
The Rail Nation Team