Mentor Program Handbook

Last Updated: 10/01/2015

Updated Handbook Re-written by Rose and Tay

Player Mentors Program Handbook

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
Contacting Us ................................................................................................................................. 3
What you need to do to get started: ............................................................................................. 4
A. Sign Up for A (Free) Fuwa Forums Account .......................................................................... 4
B. Send us your Forums Username .......................................................................................... 4
C. Find a Mentor!........................................................................................................................ 4
Program Rules ................................................................................................................................ 5
Fuwanovel Forums: The Player Mentors board ........................................................................... 6
Some Resources ............................................................................................................................ 7
Appendix A: The Chronological Workflow of the Program ........................................................... 8
Appendix B: Guide for the Mentors ............................................................................................... 9
Your Job ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Requirements: ............................................................................................................................ 9

Thank you for agreeing to take part in our Player Mentors

program! The goal of this experiment is to connect
knowledgeable and friendly player mentors to new, or
discussion-hungry, or shy, or lone-wolf, or finding-gameschallenged players. It can be a large, strange hobby at
times, and so why not make a friend or two on the journey?

Introduction
Thank you for contacting us about this project of ours. My name is Rose and I'm Fuwa's
Mentor Program Coordinator. Our goal here is to connect experienced players to new, or
discussion-hungry, or shy, or lone-wolf, or finding-games-challenged players.
If you like the program, or have suggestions, or just want a different mentor, either send me
an email or PM me on the forums, I'll be sure and glad to help you out as soon as possible.

Taken from the lovely "Midwinter" Katawa Shoujo Artbook at http://katawa-shoujo.com

Contacting Us
If you run into any problems or want to give us some feedback, here are the email addresses
you should know:

Mentor Program Coordinator (Rose): mentors@fuwanovel.net

Fuwanovel site admin (Tay): archmagetay@gmail.com

Catchall email for Fuwa: fuwanovel@gmail.com

What you need to do to get started:

A. Sign Up for A (Free) Fuwa Forums Account
The first thing you need to do (if you havent already done so) is to create a (free) account on
the forums. Heres what you need to do:
1. Click here to be taken to the registration page (or, if the link isnt working/you want to
go the long way, navigate to http://forums.fuwanovel.net and click Create Account)
2. Choose a username and fill out the forms and security questions
3. After you click the Create Account button, well automatically send a validation
email to the email address you provided in the sign up page. Go to your email, click
the link it gives you, and you should be all set!
4. If for some reason you dont get your confirmation email, simply email Tay and let
him know (archmagetay@gmail.com).

B. Send us your Forums Username

Now that youre signed up for the forums, we need to get you access to the private Player
Mentors board. We decided to keep it a private board so that nobody has to feel selfconscious about asking questions about the basics. Heres what you need to do:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Contact Rose at: mentors@fuwanovel.net

Alternatively, you can contact him through a Forum PM: Rose's profile
Make the subject of the email/PM Player Mentor Program
Somewhere in the email tell Rose what your forums username is (the username you
chose while registering up in Step A), he'll deal with passing whatever is needed to
Tay. No need for that if you choose to PM him.
5. Once Tay gets Rose's email and gives your account access to the Mentors board, he
will email you back telling you that youre good to go. Hell also include a link to the
board. If you dont hear from him within 24 hours, you can either email him
(archmagetay@gmail.com) or ask Rose to do so.

C. Find a Mentor!
While Tay works on giving you access to the Player Mentors Board, Rose will be in contact
with you to find out which Mentor from our current pool has a better compatibility with your
tastes and needs. You'll be asked a few questions by Rose so he can more accurately
suggest the Mentor, and once that's decided, just wait until your new buddy contacts you!

Program Rules
1. By participating as a mentor and/or mentee, you agree to immediately cease contact
with the other party if either of you request it. If you have been contacting one
another by personal email, you should delete their email address out of your address
book.

2. Fuwanovels function is merely to bring

mentors and mentees together we only
provide structure up until the first email with
your mentor. After that youre both
communicating privately and can make
whatever you want of your
relationship/friendship.

o If your mentors stop writing, or you want

new/additional mentors, you can always find
others on the forums Player Mentors
Program board

o Fuwanovel doesnt support the use of

game torrents, but we cant and dont try to
control you or your player mentors. All we
From Midwinter via http://katawa-shoujo.com can ask is that you keep any discussion
about torrents to private communication (not
on the player mentors forums board)

3. If anything seems off or suspicious about a mentor/mentee, contact us ASAP

Fuwanovel Forums: The Player Mentors board

There is a specialized board on the Fuwanovel forums accessible only by mentors and
mentees called the Player Mentors Program board which is nestled inside the Introduce
Yourself board. You can see it hiding right here:

You wont see this board until Rose emails Tay your Fuwanovel Forums account username,
however, so make sure he doesn't forget to do it!
This board exists for three main reasons:
1. Well keep an archive of program handbooks in there so you can always find the
latest version of the program handbook should you want/need it
2. We'll encourage you to share your experience with other mentees, as well as other
mentors, through feedback threads every now and then. If you'll take part in them,
well that's up to you, we'll never force you to openly speak your mind on the forums.
3. This is a safe and private place to post questions! A few examples of posts you could
make:

I need some help finding two specific games

Id like to nerd-out about Clannad. Anybody want to email me?

Looking for a mentor who loves Key games

What is a translation patch?

What is a Type-Moon?

Some Resources
Here are a bunch of great resources which may help you in your travels throughout the VN
landscape:
Fuwanovel Network

Fuwanovel.net Currently being re-designed. Games section has both PC and Mobile
VN databases (iOS/Android), Fuwanovel Academy (guide for new players), and more

The Fuwazette Blog Our news blog which, thanks to the illustrious Zaka, regularly
posts news, project/translation updates, interviews, editorials, and more
The Visual Novels Reviews Hub If you like reviews or write VN reviews, check out
the new reviews hub. Were trying to help revitalize the VN reviews scene and would
love your feedback/wed love to add your reviews stream!

Some Other Useful Resources

VN Recommendations The whole board is amazing, but you really do need to check
out the fantastic lists in this thread: link

Walkthroughs
Our very own Merus Steam Curator List: Visual Novel Fans

thelordofpis VN Buying Guide

Fuwas Tech Support (common issues FAQs and a volunteer tech support board)

Michael's Top Ten Free Visual Novels article for UConn

Lemmasoft Communitys New OELVN game list (made by that community)

Planet EVN (OELVN news hub)

Reddits r/visualnovels/ community

(More to come!)

From Midwinter via http://katawa-shoujo.com

Appendix A: The Chronological Workflow of the Program

1. New mentee contacts the program coordinator (Rose) asking to join;
2. Rose welcomes the new mentee to the program and sends them a copy of the latest
version of this handbook, also suggesting the mentor who has the best compatibility
with the mentee based on a short talk about what he's looking for in one;
3. Mentee signs up for the forums if they havent already done so;
4. Rose emails Tay their forums username and contact the responsible mentor about
his new buddy;
5. Tay goes into the forums software ACP and gives the new mentee access to the
private Mentors board (this is done by assigning the user a secondary user group
called ~MentorsBoard);
6. Tay emails back the following message:

Hi there,
Youre all set to use the Player Mentors board! Heres a
direct link to the board, but otherwise you can always find
it nestled within the Introduce Yourself board on the
Forums. Be sure to read the program handbook (all the
information you should need about the program is in
there), but otherwise dont hesitate to contact Rose or I if
you have any questions or run into problems.
- Tay

7. When mentors contact their mentees, theyll start with a self-introduction and include
yet another copy of this handbook (just to be sure they get it!);
8. After that, mentors and mentees can have whatever degree of interactions they want.
Fuwanovel doesnt dictate any further how they should interact with one major
exception: if either party requests that the other stop contacting them, both parties
must comply and remove the other person from their contact lists and email address
books (Rule #1). Both mentors and mentees agree to this rule when they take part in
the program.

Appendix B: Guide for the Mentors

Your Job

PM Rose with the following info (heres a template):

o Status (accepting mentees or not) (< keep up to date!)
o Contact info
o About me
o Types of VNs I like
o Favorite VNs
o VNDB profile link and/or list of VNs youve played
o VNs you especially like discussing
o Etc.
Be fabulous;
When contacting a new mentee: introduce yourself and attach a copy (or link to) the
latest program handbook;
After that, essentially, you just be nice and be a friend. Answer their questions, talk
about the game they're playing, nerd out with them (Sakura = best girl), offer game
suggestions, show them around Fuwa, help them find the next game to try, etc;
Make friends!

Requirements:

Played at least 4 of the Starter VNs listed below, and find it enjoyable to talk about
them:
o Katawa Shoujo
o Higurashi
o Sharin no Kuni,
o Planetarian
o Saya no Uta
Himawari no
o Narcissu
o Steins;Gate
Shoujo
o Fate/Stay Night
o Grisaia no
o Clannad
Kajitsu
o G-Senjou
o Majikoi

You should, open-mindedly, enjoy nerding out about visual novels

Be respectful of other mentors and mentees

Some Fuwa exposure (>6 months, know the sites, >100 forums posts)

Each mentor can choose how many mentees she/he wants to have (There'll likely be
a minimum though)

Know the answer to this question: How do I change my computer to Japanese System
Locale? (Answer: here)

10

Good luck! Dont hesitate to contact us if you

run into trouble or have questions!