With the state of the game and its playerbase, is there a chance that training could be automated? Much similar to how the players get basics like elemental ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu and kenjutsu automatically that scales to their respective stat line, I would love to see training of new skills and abilities be automated, in a roleplay setting, that a character can learn and add to their biographies. Personally, I think giving the player the agency of either going through our traditional method in the Training Grounds, or writing your own narrative missions in the NW wherein your character learns whatever skill, would be a solid addition. Playing somewhat off of what Mox has mentioned, it would reduce the training burden on the staff of training the 2-3 people who want to achieve whatever skill they desire, as well as give players the means to continue to develop their biography in their own unique way.
For example, I want my current NW character to learn the Toad summoning contract. I understand I need to ask a sensei to train me in that skill to ensure I can use it properly or whatever. Instead, I would love to have the ability to write my character a small training arc wherein they learn their new skills in the NW. In this example, it would give me a chance to write a narrative that works for my character, write about their successes and failures, and also grade it as a mission to reward with effectively learning the skill or earn some kumi on the side.
But also, given the state of the game and the playerbase, these skills are largely universal or endgame skills (EMS, YY etc.) that people desire. I'm not sure if the higher end skills should be learnt/taught like this, but I do think there is enough materials for people to reference for their own automated training even for these abilities, so that people who want the skills can still write their own stories. Ability should still follow a path (for example, you can't get EMS without first getting MS) and such a mission would scale with difficulty of the skill's intended price point. In my example, Toad summoning might consist of two B-rank missions, but learning something like EMS might require three S-Rank missions.
