the need for 3rd tank class

[Amaranth]

I really wish everything was made so that people could play what they want to play and still beat a dungeon like 7 blms and one whm. No more waiting in df just ques up and go have fun.

[Wadoka]

I really wish everything was made so that people could play what they want to play and still beat a dungeon like 7 blms and one whm. No more waiting in df just ques up and go have fun.

This.

Whoever first came up with this standard "Tank / Healer / Damage Dealer" locked-in role composition back in the Dim Ages of RPGs made a tremendously awful compromise that spoils a whole lot of the fun.

[Assirra]

This.

Whoever first came up with this standard "Tank / Healer / Damage Dealer" locked-in role composition back in the Dim Ages of RPGs made a tremendously awful compromise that spoils a whole lot of the fun.

Please, go play Guild wars 2 and then say the holy trinity of roles was a bad idea.
There was no such thing as a group, you simply had 5 people attacking a boss at the same time.

[Tashigi]

Please, go play Guild wars 2 and then say the holy trinity of roles was a bad idea.
There was no such thing as a group, you simply had 5 people attacking a boss at the same time.

GW2 problem isn't that you don't need a "tank/healer" but that the content is piss poor of a design.
End game content in GW2 is mostly zerg this, zerg that and there is little room for strategy.
There is a couple of things that usually require some cooperation/orientation and those are actually kinda fun but also made absurdly difficult with little reward in the end (I am talking about some of the Fractals).

[Assirra]

GW2 problem isn't that you don't need a "tank/healer" but that the content is piss poor of a design.
End game content in GW2 is mostly zerg this, zerg that and there is little room for strategy.
There is a couple of things that usually require some cooperation/orientation and those are actually kinda fun but also made absurdly difficult with little reward in the end (I am talking about some of the Fractals).

So how can you make challenging strategic combat without the holy trinity exactly? You can't let the boss hit hard because there won't be dedicated healers to heal or a tank to take the blunt of the damage. At best you can do some "interupt boss" or "move boss there"
There is a reason this combo got used since the dawn of roleplaying games.

[Wadoka]

Please, go play Guild wars 2 and then say the holy trinity of roles was a bad idea.
There was no such thing as a group, you simply had 5 people attacking a boss at the same time.

You say that like it's a bad thing? Not seeing the problem here.

I'll trade you reference for reference.

Please, go play Neverwinter Nights 1.0 (oh darn, you can't, it shut down in '97) with a party made up of *all* max-level Fighter/Cleric/Magic Users (or occasionally with a Paladin/MU for flavor) and attack the Beholder Nest west of Neverwinter, and tell me you don't get trembling fingers and the cold sweats, praying to the RNG gods when a BH casts Disintegrate your way, and hoping this is the 1 in 200 run the Ring of Protection +2 drops.

I won't be signing up for GW2. I don't have enough spare time as it is. I let my SWTOR subscription lapse last month because it was SWTOR or XIV, and XIV won.

[Assirra]

snip

Sorry but that comparison is laughable since they are completely different games. We are talking about mmo's here, not single player with coop. They are completely different beasts. Btw as much as i love those old rpg's. making a rng system like that in an mmo would be so hilariously bad i pay to see it maked and fall flat on its ass.
Oh and if you love it so much, you can play that instead. Btw, no subscription for GW2 so no worries there.

[Wadoka]

Sorry but that comparison is laughable since they are completely different games. We are talking about mmo's here, not single player with coop. They are completely different beasts...

You're drawing distinctions that don't exist.

All of these games are cooperative single player at the core. They are not completely different beasts. We are individuals; and we choose to cooperate - or not. Just like the old set-piece encounters from 17 years ago. The graphics are better, the connections are better, there are larger skillsets, but the basic idea set hasn't changed at all.

If you like the idea of strict class roles; if you see them as "The One True Way"; if you find them appealing, comforting, "safe", over the idea of carefully-selected and nurtured customizable choice of skillsets, then you're far too rigid in your thinking for me.