Why Do You Care?

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".

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.

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.

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).

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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'.

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.

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by 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".

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

I never liked healing in games. Too boring.... So for 18 years I never played as a healer. I choose SCH because I got tired of hearing mobs wimper and cry from me hitting them. I heal ppl so I can get close to them to hear them wimper and cry in pain.

I guess each one of us have some odd reason or another to be a healer.

Im too good in all rolls, so everybody want me healing, that way they know they wont die evah. simple as that.
If i go tank i can die with bad healers, so i rather take the responsability.
Dps is just boring.

/humble mode on

semi-jokings a part its pretty much about the responsability, i rather take it than leaving to incompetent hands. Plus the action is awsome, never(almost) get sleepy.

This is actually my first time playing a healer - I usually always go for the DPS magic-user class - but after a bit of practice I'm enjoying it! I'm a solo player by nature but I actually do multiple dungeon runs because it can get pretty exciting to heal during boss fights. You have to have just the right amount of strategy and quick-thinking to be able to heal effectively during a boss fight, and it's a lot more fun than just throwing spells at the mob!

I'm a healer, but I lack empathy. To put it simply, I don't "care" - my emotions aren't my motivation for being a healer.

I enjoy the challenge that healing provides. I like making split-second decisions that can make or break a raid group. Healing keeps me awake and engaged.

At the end of the day, if people say thanks, it does make me smile. If they skip it, that's okay; I'm more focused on the group's overall success. I know if I've done a good job or not, and I'm a harsher self-critic than my party could hope to be.

I just think healing is fun. It's always been my go to role. DPS is just a little boring and tanking isn't my think because I don't really like melee and the idea of being a leader type isn't my thing. I'd rather be the support.

I do it because its fun and someone's gotta do it. Taking one for the team.

Rezzing is fun after the fact, but I really enjoy the last minute saves you can only get as a healer. There's nothing like coming across a player who's pulled an add too many and is just fighting to get the xp from 1 of the mobs. You can see the desperation, but then you swoop in with your heals and your buffs...

Open world aside though, I like being the life-line of the party and the first target everyone rushes to defend if they get attacked.

I do it because it's easier than tanking or dps. Keep the health bars full and don't stand in the aoe or in front of the boss. I don't even need to know or care about most boss mechanics, other than knowing when and where I need to move. Let the dps worry about what needs to be attacked and when. Let the tank worry about adds. If I get aggro I stand where the tank can see me and I go back to healing. But with a good tank and well timed heals, that's rarely an issue. Healing is just easier because while every fight is different for the dps and tank, it's all pretty much the same for me (especially with ffxiv's nifty way of showing us where the boss's next ability will be aimed). Getting into PUGs faster is a nice perk as well, though that can be as much a curse as a blessing...

Last night, I was in Dragonhead waiting for my dungeon queue to pop, and I was just buffing people with Stoneskin for the heck of it as they ran past. Most people stopped to thank me but I had a select few that were just so.... rude! One told me to piss off; that I was interfering with his questing by buffing him :( I care because I am a caring person and hate to see people struggle IRL and in game. I even will stop and heal a person that's taking a walloping from several mobs out in the game world (if i can figure out how to target them in time). It's just my sense of duty, I suppose!

I've always liked being in a support role. Standing in the back and keeping the team alive is so satisfying to me. And those moments, where shit hits the fan, and the wrong people get hit with the wrong attacks, and you have to pull out all your best tricks and burn a ton of MP. The fights still not over but everyone is back to full HP, boss is almost dead, and no one even noticed...Oh well, didn't sign up for this job for the glory.

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Originally Posted by Terokk

Last night, I was in Dragonhead waiting for my dungeon queue to pop, and I was just buffing people with Stoneskin for the heck of it as they ran past. Most people stopped to thank me but I had a select few that were just so.... rude! One told me to piss off; that I was interfering with his questing by buffing him :( I care because I am a caring person and hate to see people struggle IRL and in game. I even will stop and heal a person that's taking a walloping from several mobs out in the game world (if i can figure out how to target them in time). It's just my sense of duty, I suppose!

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This is the type of stuff I do when I play a healer. I wanted to Tank is this game because I, one they didnt have a rog type class, 2 War have got get cleave with a big axe and 3 I been a healer / support in most MMO games I've played.

I do it because it is a great way to help the community out as a whole, in open world at least. Though it has been limited somewhat in this game, i.e. no protect. I have been saved many times in open world combat by a wandering healer, and ended up adopting that as my "return to the community".

In Dungeon/Instance setting, it is the most rewarding role to fill. You don't even have to know that instance that well, though it helps, to be a great benefit. A party succeeds or fails, sometimes solely, on how well the healer does.

Every now and then, you get the compliment/ acknowledgment that makes it a little bit more worthwhile.