yes, having the chance to play with better players is important to learning, i'm not denying that at all. it's how i learned because i certainly didn't play any beginner games. i still learn something from every game i'm partnered with someone better than me. i just think beginner games could be more useful than they are and that it's better for someone to play a simple game first. postgames should offer more helpful advice and point out more mistakes as well. obviously newbies shouldn't have to join beginner games but i think it's a nice thing to have because a lot of people who i have spoken to about smogon mafia before have said it looks hard, it looks intimidating, etc.
and i know you're not suggesting partner mafia, i was just pointing out we've had a similar thing done before and it failed. i still think mentors would fail for the simple reason intimidated newbies will almost always (if not always) defer to the experienced player, creating too much reliance / doing what they say. a suggestion can easily be interpreted as a command. i think someone (you probably) could try a game like that, it would be easier than partner mafia, but the problem is they will still have too much influence on the game. say i think we shouldn't all claim to unclesam, i'm going to be like 'claim if you want, but there is reason to be suspicious, caution advised' and then anyone who asked will be spooked out. if people ask me and i say it seems ok but they should be careful anyway they will be like 'ok well she probably knows better than me'. obviously not everyone is like that but a lot of people defer to authority/experience and there's only so much you can say before it's interpreted in whatever way and people act on it
HD: not his fault, he subbed in
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