7 Reasons You Should Be Nicer to Tanks (And People in General)

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Originally Posted by MadMacallan

~epic tale full of action, comedy, drama, and suspense~

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Renekton Bot, is that you?

I feel tanks have been the nicest all up ive seen out of all the classes, ive even ran into more disrespectful healers and i only have to deal with one only in 8mans, since im whm. Apart from trying out satasha with a fc friend for fun, only 4 dungeon ive done on a dps, where the healer said he isnt going to heal me.

But most tanks ive been put up with my holy and aggro spams even apologise when its my fault a lot.

The last point is so true sometimes i feel im not playing my best not concentrating so just facerolling on healer and im like ok a lot of flames incoming, only to see the tanks get the blame, even playing without a mouse to charge battery. One time in AK wall, i wasnt playing my best and a lot of mistakes were made by everyone, but the dps flamed the tank, but i felt bad so i stepped in and admitted that a lot of it was probably due to me. But hey its like healer makes 5 mistakes, dps makes 10, tank makes 1 its like "wtf noob tank".

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Originally Posted by MadMacallan

I'll tank for you. I'm on Cactuar and I'm awesome. Look me up or send a friend request.

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I won't send you a friend request...cause I'm on a different server. But you, sir, are indeed awesome.

Great post, full of truths and funny lines :)

Well, now I want to move to Cactaur.

the taco bell breakfast looks disgusting...yet oddly arousing..... O.o

I often main tank while taking on the duty to stun and silence bosses. (Ifrit, Chimera. ADS.)
It saves a lot of trouble for the DD's or healers to get the blame in most situations then.

I love helping first timers get through their run and let them provide a better understanding of their role at 50.
So if there is anyone who needs help on Excalibur, Don't hesitate to send a tell. :)

I'll just throw it out there that I am also willing to tank and help people learn stuff. Adamantoise server!

This was a very entertaining read. I mean I haven't played tank in this game yet but I can understand the frustration you can have as a tank but I have also encountered tanks that are bad and unwilling to listen to some advice, I run WP as a SMN so AOE with Bane and Miasma two the occasional Shadow Flare when we have 5-6 mobs, and I know the tank can't always keep hate on all mobs at once so I will run to the tank when its on me he will grab it off if not I will focus the one down on me with fester, and Energy drain. If the tank is really struggling on control for hate I will stop AOE. What really bugs me is when I get in a Duty Finder group for WP tank runs off agros everything and expects the healer to know whats going on, Duty Finder will not always have experienced players in there for speed runs so don't assume that is what you are going to get in duty finder. Average run for Duty Finder group 30ish mins which isn't bad,

Sadly it all just comes down to the impatience of people. Especially when in DF. I know the ball can swing both ways when dealing with others and I'll be the first to admit I never played a tank class. I'm just the WHM keeping people alive. At least from my little perspective most of my problems have been a result of that same impatience, especially in tanks.

While most have simply been a pleasure to heal for and party with it goes without saying quite a few are impatient, run forward before I can even buff them. Agro 3-5 monster groups and then want to yell at me because I can't keep them alive.

It's more or less a simple matter of being civil and respecting others play styles. Especially in DF, keep civil, do the dungeon as normal and save all the little tricks and speed runs outside DF and with your statics, FC's or LS's

I really dont have anything to add to this thread, except, dude I seriously laughed my ass off at your wording. Not in a cynical, this kid is taking things too seriously way, just in a.. you're one funny guy.

I have in my experience encountered more tanks being rude to others than the other way around. Let's face it, we as tanks have dibs on the duty finder. Healers exist in this club too, but the tank gets top billing the the opening credits roll up on the title screen and you know it OP.

We choose to be kind and take bereavement because we chose a role to carry, but that same person can throw the team into the river whenever he or she pleases. It's a very ego-driven position, and it has to be, because it's a passively-compulsive leadership position. It's really hard to pity my position as a tank, when so many others around me barely hold a third of that volume within their voice.

Example, can you imagine a DPS making a thread like this on this board? These archetypes rarely would take a soapbox like this, they could when driven to, but we as tanks can, because we feel we have license to, and that to me says a lot about the power we have on this community in game and out.

OMG bro i seriously fell out of all those commentaries!!! ROFL

As a fellow Paladin tank i can seriously relate to most of that. In most MMOs i love being the healer but for whatever reason I opted to take the punishment and I can say most have been kind to me when I let them know it's my first time running that dungeon. But there have been mostly DPS (usually out-geared then me) they love to pour the hate because they pull aggro due to their overwhelming damage. My usual response is to tell them to "tank themselves if they can do it better....oh you can't? stfu then." I even had one bard who got cocky and took me up on my generous offer. After a short winded fail at "kiting" into 3 groups of mobs, resulting in his death and watching us pick up his handiwork, he was pretty eager for me to continue my job.

Always a pleasure working with the socially helpful groups or teaching dungeon runs myself though!! :)

Adamantoise server guys!!!

Pheeeew, long thread and which seems to derail... *ahem*.

Everyone knows it's an MMO-RPG and what to expect. I just want to make a final statement: You're not "forced" to play with other players when you log-on everyday doing the same thing on the W.W.W.

Be nice to everybody, WARs, PLDs, BLMs, MNKs, DRGs, ACNs, SCHs, WHMs, RDMs, NINs, SAMs and LOLPUPs or you'll soon be playing "all-by-your-self".

Thank you for that post.
Feeling a bro-tank connection here, it's nice to actually read this on the official forums.

I'm at Titan HM step right now, as a PLD.

Some things I live everyday as a tank:
_ DPS not attacking the marked mob in dg, or switching targets way before mob dies (tank does this for the aggro, not for fun. So please, kill it, it's your job, I'll do mine)
_ DPS just afk'ing for 5 sec in the middle of a fight
_ Healers spamming Cure for almost nothing when I engage a new group.
_ Healers doing completely nothing for 50% of fights while they really really don't need a full mana pool at this moment
_ Range classes pulling mobs while I was marking some of them or while I'm on my way to engage them
_ Other tank wants to MT. Doing complete shit (my best experience: MT dragging Ifrit HM all over the place to attack the nails himself <3)
_ Mistakes I make sometimes, because we all have first times/bad days in dgs and even if it's not the 1st time, nobody's perfect. No you're not ;)

Now that I did every dg/primal several times, I'm confident in my tanking skills, and I love playing as a tank.

To sum up my thoughts, I'll just put 2 things here:

1) Playing tank before healer or dps is the best way to learn how not to piss others off. Since we lost aggro so many times because of healers/dps bad actions/timing. You won't understand until you use CrapFlash or WeakProvoke in dg.
Just look at the aggro meters of everyone in the party when Rage of Halone hits. You'll see the effect of the only valuable tanking (mono-target) spell.

2) If a tank does one mistake, there's a big chance the group/someone will die or be severely damaged directly
If a healer does one mistake, there's a chance the group/someone will die or be severely damaged directly
If a DPS does one mistake, there's a little chance the group/someone will die or be severely damaged directly

Don't misunderstand me, I don't want SE to change anything about tank spells.
I just want the community to acknowledge it's not always tank's fault if the aggro sphere around him is broken.

PS: ofc all of this doesn't apply for Titan HM. The "Tanks' gift", as I call it.


If you are not a huge insulting a**hole, come play with me on Moogle! (WPs & Titan HM on the menu)

I loled so hard readng this whole thread, thanks ! Many very good ponts were made.

I haven't reached lvl 50 yet, play healer as main, but leveld all three roles (Tanked more than DPSed in DF due to long queues).
I am a dungeon junkie, leveled healer and tank class exclusively through DF (mostly pug groups)

I must say I have much much more patience when playing healer than tank.
Nevertheless in any role, I try to never grief anyone for making mistakes or not being good, or not knowing what to do, as long as they are not mute idiots who might as well be bots considering the attention they pay to the chat. Or the worst (and sadly very common) kind: morrons.

One of the hardest Sastasha runs I ever had was with a lvl 40+ PLD who was a legacy player who had only just came back to the game. He hadn't done any class quests, so aparently didn't have Shield Lob. He had no idea how to actually tank. Struggled until the end of the dungeon to even use flash properly. We had to explain to him everything, litteraly, listing him what abilities he could use to generate hate, giving him examples of simple rotation (not that you have a lot of skills to choose from at this level) etc...
Well, surprise, the guy was nice, he was sincerely trying, and no one in the group insulted him for it, no one even quit before the end (to my great surprise). It was kind of hilarious to try to teach a hlvl PLD how to tank, when the only experience I had myself in this game was a few runs of basic dungeons with my lvl 20-something MRD, and reading posts and guides in preparation to properly play tank later on. But yeah, no insults no quiting, great time.

As I say, I play mostly healer, and my experience is that of few tank a**hles, more DPS idiots. But the worst I've ever seen was actually from a healer (on one occasion that I played tank).
Just before the last boss fight, I try to give a short briefing since our BLM was new to the dungeon and had no idea what to do. Healer start interrupting with sarcasms and mokery, wants to go in and just see how it goes, and more "lol it's just a lvl 28 dungeon" (which is true, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen so many groups wipe on this fight even sometimes when people knew what to do). In the end, he goes "if we don't go in in 30 seconds, I'm off to Wallmart". We would have already been done with it if not for his interference, but nevemind that.
I brief as fast as I can (it's not like there's a lot to explain) we go in (including the now silent healer), and start the fight. Then "WTH?" healer is not healing. We wipe. The guy actually went AFK on us (instead of leaving the dungeon, so that we couldn't replace him).
Worst is, it's not even me he punished, since tank get instant in. I personally didn't even need to finish the dungeon, since I only did it to get my last level before going do my job quest. He only punished the two DPS, one of which was brand new and was probably just trying to move on in her main quest. And since we weren't on the same server, i couldn't even re-queue with her to help her skip queue. Oh how I hated that healer, that day....



As a tank, if DPS or healer pulls or sleep before I pull, I assume it's an accident.
If it happens consistently, I assume the player is knew or doesn't know better, and ask them not to (with "please").
If player keep doing it, I inform them of my policy: "You pull it, you tank it".
If They keep doing it, I'm doing just that: watching them tank, while using DMG combos that may, or may not take the aggro back.

As a healer, provided the tank is not one the aforementionned morrons or bot-like mute idiots, I follow the tank. I heal the tank, and whoever is not pulling. Like when I play tank, I give benefit of the doubt to other players, but if in the end, they just don't care about "teamwork" and ignore the rest of the team in their idiocy, I just let them, and watch them die. The most funny is when one of the DPS runs away on his own, stats pulling, and then complains that I'm not healing him.

Letting people suffer the consequence of their actions might help them realise why they shouldn't do it when words fail. If they still don't get it, then it would have been a waste of energy to keep trying to discuss it with them anyway. No insults needed, arguing is always a waste of time and energy, I chain dungeons all day in DF, I don't have enough of both to waste on morrons, I just filter the insults out. Actions speak louder than words.
So yeah, that's probably why I'm much more laid back when playing healer than tank... lol

Omg, that was the best read ever to start my morning, thanks bud. I'm dying, that was awesome..

Speaking only from my limited perspective: if I am in new instance as a tank. I let the group know: "this is my first time here, I will turn all mobs by default and mark my target before each pull and during the pull. If there is a mechanic I need to know or If I am doing something wrong let me know so I can do this better for all of us."
That being said after probably the most abusive stone vigil run (yes first time) since tanking ancient kyrats on Ahazi for a pug, I have gone back to only tanking for my FC.
Aggro and threat is different for each game, that being said yes the reminds me of early early wow when "wait for 3 sunders before you drop your pom/pyro please." was my standard opening line.

If you are disrespectful to your party mates you get what you deserve.

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Originally Posted by Dochas

I can't believe in 8 pages nobody talked about the most important part of this post.
Red Vines are not the no frills version of Twizzlers, they are the king of licorice and Twizzlers are the disgusting tasting also-rans.

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Except that red vines aren't licorice at all.

I love the writing style! This was not written off the cuff. The points you make while good for the comedy of the story, will do little to nothing to influence anyone other than other tanks unfortunately. Even so, write us another one!

Thanks Macallan, it was a good read.

I'm a healer myself, who's working on leveling a tank in order to be more flexible with helping my fellow company members, but also to give advise for new members who are learning to tank dungeons For the first time. I have to say, tanking (mostly keeping the hate) is tough... I have a lot of respect for tanks in general. I have a lot to learn about tanking myself.

But, I also think that it's not the class that's rude to tanks/healers/dd's, but the players are. Nowadays, I find that people have a lot less patience and respect for others. Both inside as well as outside the game. It's a shame really... FFXIV is a game which should be enjoyed by all and be seen as work/obligations. Life outside the game is too serious already.

Relax a little. Have fun. And try to respect one another's playstyle, experience and involvement in the game.

I primarily play as a healer. Whenever I can, I praise the tank and support them as I can. I am particularly patient with tanks new to dungeons. It is my job to keep them alive so they can learn. Sure, some runs can get messy.I was in a Prae run with 7 first timers. We wiped once on Ultima because they were unfamiliar with the cycles. Explanations are not the same as experience. I have to proudly note that the party had Ultima down to a sliver before we completely wiped! The second try was as smooth as a speed run group. The team was excellent: good team work, patience, learning, and virtual high-fiving.

The tanks, in particular, seemed to enjoy themselves once they learned that I, "the veteran," wasn't going to berate them or rage quit. I accidentally pulled threat a few times. I just apologized and rehashed my healing cycles for them until the tanks got into the swing of things. The other healer also seemed to appreciate the patience and chance to learn more on how to heal in 8 person situations.

Long story short, people are people no matter what they play. It is good to consider that fact and treat them with respect and kindness even when they are not reciprocating. We were all new at one point.

As long as tanks don't let their position get to their heads everything is fine. Tanks all too often are in a position of power in a group. They know it too. They can enter queues relatively easily. They dictate pulls, and quite often have sat and idled if things don't go their way, or if they have absolutely any attitude issues with them. I was honestly surprised you didn't add an eigth reason to this tank circle jerk thread: "Because you need me more than I need you" or "Because the only reason you're still in the group is because we don't have a kick feature yet."

Oh, these mobs over here are skippable! ♥

http://i.imgur.com/ql6rCiA.jpg

But I probably should, because I can be replaced in three seconds in the DF, and you can't, and you know that, which is why people have to take that, but have seven reasons to be nice back.

I respect tanks that keep every mob off of me after one Cure 1. I feel the ones that don't will never learn. I'm so tired of seeing three red arrows and dying after casting one spell.

One hundred times applause for you sir.

Love how you put it, and would love to shove this in some people's faces.

I've gone through the same on my Healer. And people wonder why no one wants to use the DF. Gee willikers.

I want one person here to raise their hand because they knew everything when this game came out.

No?

Okay then. I love you. So be nice to everyone.

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Originally Posted by Mihlo

Renekton Bot, is that you?

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Not enough Susan in this thread. Renekton Bot would probably try to fit in something about crushing Susan where possible lol.

The general attitude is great deference to tanks, in my experience.

Their very role allows them to lead everything. Who are these complainers?

I get a lot more grief from tanks as a healer than I've ever heard directed at a tank, no matter what kind of crazy pulls or mistakes they make.

And no one really calls out DPS when they're being.... less than optimal. But if anything happens to go wrong the healer is probably the one to get hate, if anyone is.

I don't like to whine but healers are more hated on than tanks by a mile.

I read this thread and there's lots of joy... and then I read this other thread (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Damage-dealers.) and hope is lost. Also a good read (as far as the first post goes). Unfortunately the sarcasm in the post seems to be lost on some of the posters.

I really wish some people would actively play tanks from 1-50 and do the end game dungeons as tanks before immediately pointing a finger at the tank when aggro loss occurs cause they're aoe happy.

Don't get me wrong.. I can hold aggro on a SMN using Bane.. but I've had a lot of practice, help honing my skills from my FC, and generally get a crap ton of praise when I do use the duty finder. I've even had people tell me to transfer servers. I'll still sometimes lose a mob to Bane though.. it's not often, but it happens. Especially if I forgot to click off renew and have issues rounding the mobs up, preventing me from getting into my main rotation right away. I also don't know of any tank that can hold off a BLM using multiple flares (without quelling strikes) without a good lead on enmity before the flares start. I've had some luck spamming flash and then having the BLM start in with the flares when my mana is around 1/2 to 3/4 empty. Never if they flare at the start of the pull though, and they'll definitely get aggro if I'm not prepared for them to do it.

If any of you fellow tanks have tips for that, I'd appreciate it :P My general rotation is shield lob, fight or flight, flash (or flash x 2 with a summoner in the group and 3+ mobs), and then my combo leading to rage (x2, with another flash after the first combo set on 3+ mobs) on the main mob. From there it's all about tab targeting and rotating where enmity skills actually hit based on which mob "needs" it. With a flash every or every other rotation.. again, depending on threat levels.

Aggro is simply not a very important part of dungeon clearing. Unless you're unloading on a Dullahan before the tank even has aggro, it's really not that big of a deal for a DPS to be tanking trash mobs. Your healer usually has way more MP than he needs so there's no need for anyone to freak out. Usually DPS get aggro because the tank is either undergeared or not skilled, and either way there's no reason to throttle your DPS so that a weak tank can get aggro when a strong DPS can easily tank almost any trash. In fact if your DPS does an AE and pulls aggro on 3 mobs, that's probably a good thing because better him than the healer getting the same result when casting his first heal. I've seen groups where Eos is the tank and I think it'd still be better for DPS to tank instead of Eos (though I'm not certain, Eos sure looks tough).

I dunno, most groups I am in treat tanks as total royalty and almost never ever question their skills or gear. Why? They are least played obviously. Also many are really touchy and or egotistical; I am the tank, I am the boss, if you don't do as I say then I will /leave and then back to the long que for you mwahahahahahahahahahaha! Er, woops I am a healer so my ques are only slightly longer than a tank so no biggie. :)

As a healer, I get more flak I find. Most fights in these games has a tank stand on one spot hitting buttons so it's not all that difficult...is it?

Like last AK run where tank was in sword oath for 3/4 the run and it was really stressful for me since he was taking massive dmg and I kept getting aggro. I was clearly to blame, said the tank. Then I pointed out maybe he should be in the defensive oath and that got me a real earful let me tell you. I just shut up, healed his squishie butt and moved on....never question the boss. /walk on eggshells

I agree with the OP. Recently I got my dragoon to lvl 50 and started using DF again, because I feel like I need to help making this community a better one. I often join as tank but got some few runs as dps and I took my time give tips for tanks (like warriors using flash instead of overpower or paladins not using rage of hallone). Only once I found a tank that were an a*hole (he was using only riot blade combo and refused to use flash and told me to go tank if I wanted...) and another that went on defensive but relaxed when I explained I had a tank myself and weren't trying to be mean or troll him, just trying to correct his rotation so he would play without so much stress (he thanked me).

I believe it's all about your attitude. If you rage or show you're annoyed about everything single mistake it doesn't matter which role you're playing, you will only get negative feedbacks. Tanks tends to be more stressed about everything because they're too much in evidence, like the OP said.

I wish I met you back when I was still in Cactuar :) Awesome post. I wish they'd make one for healers too

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Originally Posted by Astarica

[...snip] Usually DPS get aggro because the tank is either undergeared or not skilled, and either way there's no reason to throttle your DPS so that a weak tank can get aggro when a strong DPS can easily tank almost any trash. [snip...]

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Actually, unlike other mmos I've played, here a well-geared/-weaponed and determined dpser can pull aggro on a mob if he really wants to no matter how great the tank. Same with heals. Though you are right that for trash mobs a dpser can easily handle tanking one errant mob.

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Originally Posted by Ryand

he started getting defensive saying he might use shield oath if I would start nuking.

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This is the stupidest thing ever.

You're in the healer role to be healing, not to be a third DPS!

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Originally Posted by Zakalwe

Actually, unlike other mmos I've played, here a well-geared/-weaponed and determined dpser can pull aggro on a mob if he really wants to no matter how great the tank. Same with heals. Though you are right that for trash mobs a dpser can easily handle tanking one errant mob.

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Depends on what you mean by determined. Sure if a good DPS doesn't use Quelling Strikes he'd definitely get aggro on most stuff, but if it's something that can kill you then he's just having a death wish. Trash, in particular, simply don't have the HP to last long enough for a DPS to reliably steal aggro without doing really dumb things like nuking the mob before the tank even has it. It's not that easy to take aggro from an equally geared tank. If the tank is significantly weaker geared than me, I'll make the necessary adjustments on anything that can actually kill me (like say, Dullahan).

have i posted on this thread...hmm...

anyway i pretty much agree with the OP. glad to see someone from cactuar trying to lighten the community up.

and as a tank, i have gotten hell from dps from indignant reasoning. many of them were leveling a second class.

but i have also been complimented on my efforts, at lower levels a pug team actually told me i was the *best* tank they ran with. i didn't understand until i leveled archer to fifty.

now i do. and i truly am sorry. if i could teach every single tank that didn't know their role how to tank, i would.

also i'm on cactuar as well, if i'm online and you need a tank...there is a good chance i'm free (i'll run pretty much anything, except stone vigil)

to be honest... the role usually reflects on how i act, on top of me being me *a jokester*... i am mainly a healer.. and when i am playing a healer i am pretty.. mercyful and nice to others... when i am on dps.. i am just that strange kid who doesnt talk much and just do as is told... on tank however.. man i am like a super strict father talking with his 15years old daughter who is going out with some new friends for the first time in a new city.... dont know why... i think i am just absorbed by what i imagine of the role...

also... i just play tank to mostly get by the queueueueueue times for things like duty roulete XD

Oh how a sarcastic sense of humor is an overwhelmingly under appreciated thing. Kudos to the OP and many props to you, Good Sir.

Sadly, the door does swing both ways, since playing any role in the game relies on one thing: People. And people can be well...yeah...

It's rare, but I have had a few freak outs. I used to play Dark Knight back in my FFXI days, suffering many the slings of lulzmithradrk rotfl and had many experiences with emergency off tanking in pure defense and blood weapon mode to save the party many a time when the tank went down or to save other party members and bite the bullet so they wouldn't. I took pride in my job as a Dark Knight, and often took off time from leveling to get the absolute best gear I could before grinding once more, because I didn't want to be a detriment to my party. Due to this experience, as well as the reason why I opted to play paladin in this game is because Dark Knight is not available in it yet, I decided to go Paladin. But I also want to see my friends get to content they would otherwise be unable to reach due to their limited schedule.

I craft all of my own gear, and HQ every last bit of it. I do my best to research everything I can before venturing into a dungeon for the first time, but even when I do, I still ask questions about things I am unsure of with boss mechanics etc.

I am happy to say that for the most part, I have gotten good groups and understanding people. Yes, there's a few snags with the DPS who decides to jump ahead of the tank instead of staying behind, then complaining about the mob suddenly eating his face while I try to peel it off...or...the occasional Arcanist/Summoner/Scholar/Whatever deciding to spread around disease like a Necromancer's bring your plague pet to work day. And then wondering why repeated flashes, a provoke, and multiple shield lobs won't pry the 20+ monsters currently clawing out his entrails off of him...

I also had a healer jump on my case for basically going "Ack, please wait for me to grab and cement hate! " in party chat, being given a statement of..."Seriously...chill out...we have a level 90 healer in here. "

-_-;

Because that level means all the difference when people run ahead and don't follow simple party mechanics of allowing a tank to grab, and hold, hate before others start dpsing. A second. Two. That's all we ask.

Sadly, the lane goes two ways. There are tanks who know they are rare and act like they are the walking gift to every player and how dare they be questioned, just like many DPS or healers will go WTF NUB, leave nao you no know how 2play! When someone asks how they handle this boss as the tank.

It all comes down to one simple thing. People. Folks...even if you are frustrated, please, try and take a breather, walk away...relax, go to your happy place filled with beautiful cat girls. Or Cake. If that's your thing. I hear the cake might be a lie though...just saying.

There are bad tanks, yes. But there are tanks like me who are completely concerned about the welfare of our party, and do our utmost to make sure you guys have a pleasant and enjoyable dungeon experience that is nigh on flawless.

It doesn't always happen, yes. But it doesn't excuse bad behavior. The whole shoe on the other foot thing applies.

Great OP...made me come in and post. I really hope some take it to heart...once they've stopped laughing at the jokes.

I agree. People are very harsh to tanks, and then complain when not enough people roll tanks. Hmm...

Good tanks are a dying breed...

Most people are tanks now a days because its free gear, free runs, and if something happens blame someone else...


and yes.. being nice never gets results...

I've been nice, and get ignored or called stupid..

my biggest pet peeve right now, are the tanks that dont understand they cant block from behind or while casting.. (spamming SS on yourself might think its good, but it really is not...)

So, I leveled GLD to 50 without ever realizing the kind of abuse I was setting myself up for... Mind you, I haven't actually SEEN this abuse yet, having been 50 now for less than a week, but I don't doubt it's coming after reading this thread. I'm pretty easy-going and tolerant (usually, that is - I'm only human), so I think I'll be able to weather the storm all right. Still, it's good to know what's coming.