The tanking shortage reasons

[Thorauku]

Reasons for tank shortage?

Tanking is boring in this game. Plain and simple.

[SirTaint]

Make DRK or SAM a tank and dungeons will be full of people leveling them.

PLD is pretty boring and WAR is complex. The masses need something in between.

[PArcher]

• Tanks are expensive. Unlike dps and healer, you cannot go a duty undergeared. As dps and healer, I usually go through my leveling gearing with drops, tanks cannot do it. They have to gear enough for the duty they go. It means, buy or craft the missing gear.
• Tanks are expensive. Armor durability drops about 5 times faster than dps and healer. For obvious reasons. Repair costs comes. As dps or healer, I had to face repairs only at 50, because the previous gear is changed before its durability becomes an issue.

Except for post-50 content, as long as you're close to the target dungeon level you are fine. This applies to ALL jobs, not just the tank. And the biggest thing to keep as close to your level as possible? Your weapon.

And a tank's equipment doesn't break any faster than a DPS or Heal, unless you are dying a ton (which means either you're not a good tank, or you have a bad heal with you, or maybe both)

• Tanks must know the duty, where to go, where not to go, what to do with the bosses, know trash killing order. Healer and dps just follow the tank and can go a new duty without knowing nothing of the place, 90% of the time.

Yeah...no. Tanks don't need to know anymore about a dungeon/instance than any other job. Especially in dungeons, where its just move from point A to point B and kill things along the way. As long as targets are marked (regardless of who marks them) and everyone follows the marks, kill-order doesn't matter 90% of the time.
And bosses? The majority can just be held against a wall if you don't know what to do (and if there's a special mechanic its almost always telegraphed well so that its just common sense to react to it).

• Tanks are less forgiven. A tank who does it perfectly, is a tank who just done its job.A Tank who makes one error is a bad tank.

Yep...the heal who doesn't heal properly never gets blamed, the DPS who pulls mobs is always right.

[File2ish]

I think the biggest factor is the tanks being blamed for anything that goes wrong. Tank dies to trash mobs even though he avoided all the high damage AoEs and such? Bad tank, not bad healer. A straggler trash mob because the WHM popped a regen immediately after the tank pulled a group before a flash or overpower could go off? "Bad tank can't keep hate". Tank pulls a group and a bard or other DPS attacks a mob that the tank didn't pull before a single AoE enmity grab? You guessed it, tank gets blame.

It certainly isn't always true, probably half the time I've seen something go wrong the tank just gets unrightfully blamed (like at first boss in stone vigil). Other times it is justifiable, like with troll tanks who knowingly face the dragons rear cone attack towards the entire alliance in CT.

As for some other points:
People are generally kind enough to explain things to new people. I am at least, and I've seen plenty of others who are. So tanks don't really need to know the dungeon/fight beforehand as long as you let people know you're new to tanking the specific duty.

Being geared certainly helps a ton, but you don't need to be geared for everything as long as you use cooldowns and have a good healer (who may or may not be well geared). Pre-50 dungeons you need gear at least like within 5-10 levels of the duty.

[Freyt]

I'd like share some toughts about reasons for this continue shortage of tanks, please correct me

• Tanks are expensive. Unlike dps and healer, you cannot go a duty undergeared. As dps and healer, I usually go through my leveling gearing with drops, tanks cannot do it. They have to gear enough for the duty they go. It means, buy or craft the missing gear.
• Tanks are expensive. Armor durability drops about 5 times faster than dps and healer. For obvious reasons. Repair costs comes. As dps or healer, I had to face repairs only at 50, because the previous gear is changed before its durability becomes an issue.
• Tanks must know the duty, where to go, where not to go, what to do with the bosses, know trash killing order. Healer and dps just follow the tank and can go a new duty without knowing nothing of the place, 90% of the time.
• Tanks are less forgiven. A tank who does it perfectly, is a tank who just done its job.A Tank who makes one error is a bad tank.

Gear isn't as big a deal as you think. It's important, but just about as important as any other class. A tank with low armor will have low HP and will get made fun of, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean the tank with higher HP knows what he's doing. So many times has it been the contrary for me.
Tanks must know the duty? Only because everyone blames them and relies on them. So far as a healer I've gone through quite a few dungeons telling everyone what to do, marking enemies and telling everyone what's going on in what fight. It would be nice if the tank marked enemies, but as long as everyone follows them, it doesn't matter who does it. As long as people listen when someone tells you what to do, it doesn't matter if they don't know what's next. If everyone's new, don't blame others, blame yourself.
Tanks are less forgiven, but it takes a range of errors to cause failure. It doesn't take 1 tank messing up 1 time to wipe the party for a very long time. For end game stuff, it definitely can, but I'd say there's plenty of leeway all the way until after CT.

[SanjuroXI]

I don't tank most things because I'm forced to need on tank gear that I 9 out 10xs already have. I don't trust people to greed so I'm forced to go on the job I want to roll on. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this either. There would be a lot more willing tanks for DF and PF I think if the roll system wasn't so lame.

[Anienai]

https://www.google.com/#q=lack+of+tanks

Tanks get the crap end of the stick and that's why most won't play one.

[Asdamine]

My first character was a tank, I always thought it was the normal stuff when I handle a dungeon. But when I leveled my first DPS class to lv50 and done end-game, oh man... it was so stress free, it was like someone taking me a joy ride with room service.

So I got to say, tank class require a certain aptitute to play. You either start off as a tank from the start or you play it with mental preparation that you'll take everything onto your shoulders.

That is why I don't understand some DPS failing a piece of a dungeon strategy had to complain sometimes. I mean, having played a tank, what they got are the easy stuff...

[Marxam]

I like to think that the shortage is a good thing. I can start selling pro-tanking on pf for 100k a run.

Seriously though, the one and only reason is people get real life hate for tanking. Most people can't handle getting yelled at for playing a class. I love axes and swords so I guess I'm a tank in this game and people bitching at me is no biggie. So if someone starts cussing you out just drop out (and report, depending on the severity). Let them wait for a new tank, if one will que that is.

[Giantbane]

I like to think that the shortage is a good thing. I can start selling pro-tanking on pf for 100k a run.

Actually, that's not a terrible idea.

On the one hand, it's worthless currently for daily roulettes. However, lots of classes get stuck in a queue for CT. Wonder how much DPS would pay to have CT queue instantly for them? (as well as having at least 1 guaranteed competent tank that isn't in full SB gear on the run with them)