Then you may want to consider applying to be a mentor! Mentoring is a great way to feel out official responsibilities and help build a resume for your GM application.

To apply to become a mentor, please visit the following web site:

http://www.dm.net/~aldamus/Mentors/default.htm

Then: Click on "DragonRealms" at top right hand corner and click on "Applications" at the top left hand corner.

TIPS WHEN APPLYING:

*Please read the basic requirements located on the application page.

*Make sure your play.net is linked to a valid e-mail address that you use.

*List ALL your accounts, even if you no longer play them. Please provide any necessary explanation.

*The "About You" section is meant to be your time to shine. This section can sometimes make or break an application. This is the section where you tell us something about yourself, why you want to be a Mentor, and even do some bragging. This is most helpful when we're not overly familiar with your contributions in DragonRealms.

*You will receive a copy of your own application after you submit it. If you don't, it may not have gone through. Please try again at a later time to be sure.

Thank you,

GM Maece
Lorethew Mentor Society

<<In essence, is recent playing time necessary, or only the ability to commit to the future?>>

It is a factor up to a point. But as long as you provide an explanation either in your application or your interview, we'll work with you. In this situation, our two main concerns are: have you been absent so much lately that you don't know major game changes and will you be able to commit in the future?

But should you remotely think that 10 hours a month might be a strain, we'd rather take you when you don't have to choose between DR and RL.

I hope that helps! If not, I'd be happy to answer more questions here or in email.

~Maece

"Is that the Six Million Dollar Man's boss?" ~The 40 Year Old Virgin~

>>Also are there mentor training nights to make sure mentors do know what they are explaining?

I dunno if DR staff does it any different but in Mythic games the new Mentor induction went something like this:

1)you the player were not handed out some reserved character readymade and waiting, so you rolled up a character on a free slot on your existing player account. When ready, you assisted and the GM in charge of Mentors would beam you up to his/her office. This GM, and any of her assistants if they happened to be around and not assigned to other tasks already, would then give you the rundown about your abilities and what was expected of you. Basically this was along the lines of:

1)don't tell anyone who your PCs are

2)don't post, give out, or otherwise reveal NDA-restricted information regarding the game, Simutronics, or staff/staff perks/etc (for instance, if Bubba messed up one time and accidentally mentioned that necromancers were finished and scheduled to go live 4 months from now, don't go telling your friends or posting on the boards "ZOMG, ya'll, looky what I heard from Bubba the other day!").

3)don't speculate on things you don't know; if you don't know the answer, ask the GMs. If they don't answer or don't know/are unwilling to say, tell them to ask on the boards.

4)The Novice area must be manned at all times.

5)Let other Mentors--or if you happen to be the only one, the GMs--know if you are going AFK so they can step up if needed to answer assists while you're gone.

6)don't reveal IG secrets, including and especially any personal info/rumors you might become privy to regarding other players or their characters.

7)don't DO things for players that they can do for themselves or get other players to do for them. For instance, don't drag them out of certain-death swarms, don't kill a rockie so they can get the skinning experience, etc.

After the speech and Q&A, the new Mentor then got to choose a basic, themed outfit of their design. Only a few items at first, though via time spent Mentoring they earned points that could be redeemed for more things. They were also given a permanent lightsource, and their skills were edited in such a way that they could fly and send thoughts gamewide (in addition to any normal game abilities your character would have at that level).

After all the behind-the-scenes orientation/setup stuff was completed, you then were shown the popular spots--the center room of the novice area (where you were supposed to stay unless AFK or answering an assist), town square center of the main city, and the Mentor Lounge (where you were supposed to go if you were going AFK, so that it never looked like you were ignoring players when they asked you questions while away).

J'Lo, no that other one

The thing to understand with Mythic, is that they are a much smaller company than Simutronics. Probably at least %50-75 smaller, with %90 of their staff focused on their graphical game(s)--the stuff that actually makes money (given that launch, the company probably has grown some). The text game is kept around because it happens to be the CEO's first love and really hasn't been viable for about 10 years. Development is typically slow, though creativity is high. For all intents and purposes, it's basically DR from an alternate reality (and, amazingly, it's not actually a leech kind of relationship with the Mythic game copying DR--just as many ideas are copied from this game and inserted into DR as vice versa).

Given all that, they've had to compress much of what DR has into a more compact unit. Their GameHost-types started out being moreorless the same as DR's, but have since evolved into a combination of DR's GHs and Mentors. There are unofficial bands of normal players who've taken up the banner of taking novices under their wings and setting them up for proper play, but these are in no way policed except as normal game policy dictates. Thus, they are equally free to help out novices or to lead them astray with misinformation.

J'Lo, no that other one