I was really excited for the new guide system because I love socializing and helping newcomers or returning players and making friends, until I found out the guide status is only earned per character. I feel like everyone that has been playing this game for over a decade will have more than one character.
Also, wouldn’t I be more likely to encounter a new or returning player when I’m leveling an alt, not running max-level content on my main? By the time my new alt would be eligible to be a guide, it would already be too late in the leveling process now to find all these people and help them.
I think they thought that having guides who were high achievers with a lot of experience in end game would help fast forward new players into that content when they hit max level, and put them into the competitive mindset.
My feeling is that the restrictions required of guides meant that most guides would be many years removed from being a new player and remembering what that was like. It’s also true that many high achievers were not actually new players when they started this game, but had been gaming previously for many years.
Well I’m not asking for them to remove the requirements to become a guide, but to make the guide status account-wide, not character-specific.