I've been thinking of promoting a bit the game by helping out newbies with free coaching sessions. The idea is to go beyond the "help the random dude in the server" (which is a good thing), by adding some sort of interface that might make the newbies feel part of something, have a goal, and stick around.

I'm still in the design phase, so any constructive criticism is more than welcome.

Requirements:

- Little to no extra time should be required besides the actual coaching session.
- Teacher and student should be able to talk.
- There should be an easy and quick way to get in contact and set things up.
- It would be nice to record everything and then publish it on youtube.
- (optional) coach should have pro account.

Tech solutions

To communicate, I see two options:
Solution 1: Skype based. The student adds the coach (whose account is publicly available, see below). If the coach status is 'available' (green) it means he is available to get a student. If he is 'occupied' (red) it means he already has a student. If he is offline, the student should get back later, or contact an other coach.

Solution 2: IRC/TS3 based. The student joins the appropriate channel, and asks for a coach. The coach status could be a tag in the name. If one is available, the two join TS.

I personally prefer the first one, as it is definitely more newbie friendly. On the other hand, supporting IRC may be good in the long run. Not sure here. Maybe starting with 1. and move to 2. later.

To do recording:
The audio can be recorded easily from either skype or ts3. For the video I guess using xstream is the simplest way, although playing fullscreen might be troublesome. Using QL demos might work, but it requires more time to sync audio/video.

Presentation

I was thinking to have a sticky thread (on QL forum and here on ESR) to properly present the initiative. Besides the explanation of the project and a dumb-proof "how to", the post would contain a list of coaches profiles like:
nick: Memento_Mori
location: Central Europe
skype: mementomoricoach999
languages: English, Italian
game mode: duel
student-level: up to 1100 elo
Ideally there would be more coaches, for different skill levels and game modes.


FAQ

- Why would I coach?

[+] whoring, of course! Besides... I'm a Quake enthusiast. I like didactic challenges. I think this can be a rewarding experience that does not cost too much, and can spread good.

- Why talking?

Talking makes things easier, and is necessary for publishing a video.

- Why publishing a video of it?

Many reasons. First, it allows other to assess the quality of the coaching, and leaves an important trace for coaches to improve over time. Second, it allows other player to benefit from the video, should the content matter for them as well. Third, it gives exposure to the coach and the initiative as a whole, potentially increasing both the demand and the offer.

Misc

Additional gimmicks like having a FCI clan tag, may make the initiative look stronger. I'm delusional enough to think that, should FCI work and become a respected entity, certain people would thrive to become a coach.