Why Do You Care?

[LahaGheist]

With a nonattempt at trolling, I really have to ask a question to my fellow healers, or people who are afraid to do so for fear of being trolled/flamed for being illequipped to handle the inevitable thanklessness of the job.

Sure, it's discouraging at times, you rarely see anyone saying, "Boy, that healer sure is peachykeen!", but honestly I enjoy doing it, and I get the stuff done so I shrug it off. Then I come to the forums to read other's posts and a few that catch my eye really just get me thinking more and more about this.

Is it really so important to be recognized by PUG's as anything more than good enough?

Maybe I'm just bored, but just something to think about I guess.


/SCH and having a damn good time being "Good Enough".

[Llededje]

It's a nice little ego boost when someone compliments my healing, but I feel enough of a sense of achievement just for clearing a dungeon. It's not like I'm gonna ragequit if a party doesn't say thanks for the heals.

[rabbitzero]

I had such bad experiences trying to play a healer in WoW many years ago, that it just turned me off so much to playing one. It isn't about getting praise, it's the abuse that turned me off. I have a desire to play my scholar, but i'm going to run her through the guild hests and low dungeons to see if it's something i will really enjoy.

[DanF]

If your asking just about Dungeons I really cannot comment. I only did the first dungeon cause I am not a big fan of dungeon instances. Which, is killing me as I now have 2 mounts, but I cannot use either cause I have not gotten past the second & third dungeons on the main story line.

However, I love to Cure and Raise people in the open world. I always stay behind after a Fate to make sure no one died, if so I raise them (if they wait the 8 seconds, cannot wait til I get Swiftcast). If I think a player is doing bad in their fight I will throw a Cure their way. In the Central Shroud I once stayed there for almost 2 hours one day just healing people at random as they were doing their Levies (near Matron's Lethe). In the low level Fates (I have to run a lot of places; I do not like to spend money on teleporting either), I generally will not level sync. So, I can just stand in the middle Curing everyone at relatively no risk to myself.

To me it kind of goes back to my pen and paper RPG days (showing my age), but I view us all as one giant team. I am a healer, so my job is help heal the team! Sometimes I get ignored, but more times than not I will have people bow (I play on Tiamat), say thanks in Japanese (thanks Google translate), or jump up and down (seems to be a common trait of those that play Lalafell they like to jump up and down to say thanks). Heck I once had someone I raised cast Stoneskin on me as a way to say thanks (which was awesome; was playing my Thaumaturge at the time, I have Raise & Cure as cross-skills).

[Dijana]

I dont mind if pugs dont compliment/thank me, everyone has to do their part and if I were to feel I should be thanked for doing what Im doing, then so should everyone else. What does bother me is when you get the occasional player who messes up and blames it on everyone else, usually the healer. Like the tank who isnt using defensive abilities and taking more damage than they should be, and blames the healer on being bad. Or the dps who stand in aoe and complain when they dont immediately get healed because you're busy keeping the tank alive and know the dps will live long enough to wait if they just stop standing in the red circles.

[HandsomeStranger]

If your asking just about Dungeons I really cannot comment. I only did the first dungeon cause I am not a big fan of dungeon instances.

You only have 2 more dungeons and an Ifrit battle to go - so hang there, the mounts are definitely worth it.

My first few experiences with healing in this game were kinda bad as I hadn't really been playing MMO's in a few years so i was a little rusty. Thankfully though, the healing system in this game is something that is fluid enough for me to appreciate. Generally people are good. Most players know (in pug groups) when theres that rogue player who is upsetting the group dynamics- and so if wipes occur, generally will turn the blame in that direction. But in regards to healing, i found that if you are honest up front- maybe telling the group that this is your first time doing this dungeon- people will be more forgiving and will also give you useful tips to help you along the way so that you have less 'stuff ups'.

[Draemos]

I don't care what people think or say. If someone runs their mouth because they are standing in avoidable AoE, ill either ignore them or purposefully let them die to make a point. If its actually my fault, then ill own up to it and fix it. regardless, you pretty much hold all the power as a healer, even more so than a tank. Ive never understood why other (good) healers put up with (or care about) abuse from dime a dozen DPS. At the end of the day, people are messaging me for dungeon runs and asking me for friend requests; I have no incentive to put up with or care about the opinions of random players who want to shove blame on the healer.

As an example, I had a guy yesterday that was complaining about not getting enough heals on Demonwall and that's why he was dying (he kept standing in purple goo) I told him that I'd heal him all the way up to the point he got the goo debuff, after that he was on his own. It's amazing how quickly he learned how to dodge the purple goo after that and how it never came close to dying as a result.

Why do i heal? Healing is the job where you can most impact the success for the majority of fights. I'm trying to succeed, and healing is where you can make the biggest impact on winning.

[shinkicker]

Honestly I haven't come across any jerks.. yet. Even if I did, I'd probably just leave, since it's pretty much an instant queue time. But I've only had problems when tanks that can't hold agro let things run all over the place. Although I'm still pretty low level.

[Simaril]

I've played a few other MMOs, including some pretty serious raiding. I've seen the downsides of each archtype:

Tanks: You're usually expected to lead the party, know the way, mark the targets, and sometimes explain or determine the strategy. Too much work, but gives the best control over your experience.
DPS: On one hand very little is expected of you... don't be afk, don't screw up the strategy so bad that it hurts everyone else... on the other hand DPS meters add a perverse incentive to tunnel vision, and minimizing the strategy and support roles for meter numbers.
Healers: You mostly just have to not die in the fire yourself... while trying your best to keep your assignment alive. Meters usually aren't meaningful, and people dieing often means they stood in the fire or are undergeared.

Typically I play the roles in that order and move onto the next role when I'm sick of the previous one. Tank until I'm sick of responsibility, DPS until I'm sick of being undervalued or mis-measured, healer until I'm blamed for bad strategies or lack of gear.

[Ruprect]

With a nonattempt at trolling, I really have to ask a question to my fellow healers, or people who are afraid to do so for fear of being trolled/flamed for being illequipped to handle the inevitable thanklessness of the job.

Sure, it's discouraging at times, you rarely see anyone saying, "Boy, that healer sure is peachykeen!", but honestly I enjoy doing it, and I get the stuff done so I shrug it off. Then I come to the forums to read other's posts and a few that catch my eye really just get me thinking more and more about this.

Is it really so important to be recognized by PUG's as anything more than good enough?

Maybe I'm just bored, but just something to think about I guess.


/SCH and having a damn good time being "Good Enough".

I do it because it is fun, I could care less what ppl say. I always get the job done.