Quote Originally Posted by Nahara View Post
The tanks we have right now are fine and adding a new tank class without fixing the real problem (people not wanting to play tanks) will just offer a new job to the people who want to tank, and a new job for people who ignore if they don't like tanking.
While it won't *fix* the problem, it will address it to some extent. As soon as you add a new class, people tend to flock to it to check it out (novelty). Even if only a small number of people stick with it, you're still getting more tanks (a tank that swaps classes is still a tank, but a DPS or healer that swaps is now a tank). It also ignores the possibility that some people don't go with a tank role because there isn't a playstyle they enjoy more than one of the larger number of available DPS options (I had a discussion along these terms with someone else a few weeks back; can't remember exactly where).

The idea that you don't need more tank or healers options because not as many people enjoy playing those roles is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially when you're providing 4 times as many options for one role as you are for the others. Yes, there's a skew towards the number of people that play DPS, but you can't draw the conclusion that everyone that plays DPS does so because they don't like tanking because there is a *monumental* skew towards the number of DPS classes (and always has been). Try imagining a game where there are an equal number of tank classes compared to DPS and healer classes; I can *assure* you that the ratio between them, while it would still have a higher number of DPS, relative to the others, it would have a *much* more balanced population amongst the given roles.

Adding new DPS classes just exacerbates the problem: DPS has even *more* options so the chance of finding a preferred playstyle amongst DPS is greater and adding new DPS classes provides them with additional novelty, which is actually going to pull tanks away.

Every class that WoW has added has been capable of tanking. The reason why it never did as much as it *could* have was because they always added at least the same number of DPS "classes" thanks to the talent trees. Adding a class that can *only* tank is going to increase the tank population no matter what (unless you honestly believe that everyone that plays is a mono-role player). The question you have to ask is how much it will increase it.