Why aren't there more tanks in FFXIV?

[Odett]

I don't enjoy tanking with randoms. Nothing infuriates me more than getting put into a random group with terrible DPS. It's like watching paint dry.

Haha, that's exactly why I won't touch PLD unless I'm playing with friends. As a DPS, I can make up the damage to compensate for the other DPS if they don't know how to play their class, but as a tank, having two bad DPS is one of the most painful things I've experienced in this game.

[LineageRazor]

When I first started tanking high level dungeons, I was content to pull mob packs one at a time. Frequently, though, the randoms I played with expressed dissatisfaction, and wanted me to pull more to get the dungeon done faster. Peer pressure aside, I was willing to give it a shot because doing these dungeons over and over was pretty boring, and I figured it'd spice things up a bit.

It DOES. Daily Roulettes are MUCH more fun when you push the limits of what you and your healer can do. Every time you get a new batch of random players, it's an interesting game to work out just what they're capable of. How many mobs can I gather and tank while leaving enough room for error just in case the healer or one or both DDs are a bit under-par? How many mobs can I actually hang onto if the BLM turns out to be a lunatic with full ilvl 110+ who thinks Quelling Strikes is for pansies?

In the worst case, a wipe happens. Not a huge deal. Sometimes a healer will ask me to slow down because they're inexperienced or don't have sufficient gear, and when that happens, I do slow down. But when given the choice between crawling and flying, I'm gonna fly! Not because I'm in a hurry, but because it's FUN!

[Midori_Nabooru]

I leveled PLD, only by running instances. I will admit, I am not a good tank but I am not the worst. People you encounter in DF are pretty awful. Totally ignore your targets, when you lose something on a trash pull "learn to tank" or "I don't have time for you to learn, speed run!".

I only tank now for FC or friends, I haven't done it much after I hit 50. I stick to healing.

[Granyala]

When I first started tanking high level dungeons, I was content to pull mob packs one at a time. Frequently, though, the randoms I played with expressed dissatisfaction, and wanted me to pull more to get the dungeon done faster. Peer pressure aside, I was willing to give it a shot because doing these dungeons over and over was pretty boring, and I figured it'd spice things up a bit.

It DOES.
When given the choice between crawling and flying, I'm gonna fly! Not because I'm in a hurry, but because it's FUN!

As a healer I 100% agree. So much more fun if you actually have to use skills and cooldowns instead of going autopilot-vita-spam.

[Krindor]

When I first started tanking high level dungeons, I was content to pull mob packs one at a time. Frequently, though, the randoms I played with expressed dissatisfaction, and wanted me to pull more to get the dungeon done faster. Peer pressure aside, I was willing to give it a shot because doing these dungeons over and over was pretty boring, and I figured it'd spice things up a bit.


It DOES. Daily Roulettes are MUCH more fun when you push the limits of what you and your healer can do. Every time you get a new batch of random players, it's an interesting game to work out just what they're capable of. How many mobs can I gather and tank while leaving enough room for error just in case the healer or one or both DDs are a bit under-par? How many mobs can I actually hang onto if the BLM turns out to be a lunatic with full ilvl 110+ who thinks Quelling Strikes is for pansies?

In the worst case, a wipe happens. Not a huge deal. Sometimes a healer will ask me to slow down because they're inexperienced or don't have sufficient gear, and when that happens, I do slow down. But when given the choice between crawling and flying, I'm gonna fly! Not because I'm in a hurry, but because it's FUN!

Completely agree with this. It's a lot more fun when there's more to do compared to the regular pace where a couple of OP/Flash and then barely anything to do.
Personally I had a lot of fun doing BF speedruns with a good group, there was just so much more to keep an eye on and not only tank and spank.
While I don't do this much anymore as I don't run that many duties, when I'm with a group of mates I usually do this as even a wipe will only result in laughs.

[KingOfAbyss]

I have all classes leveled to 50 and am working on 4th Animus weapon as PLD (BLM/BRD/SCH for last 3).

Can you share to everyone a bit of your TIME? ^^

[SythSynner]

More will come.

[KingOfAbyss]

as others may be well acquainted with the encounter and want a smooth run. A reason you see people leave a party if a wipe occurs once.

A smooth run goes when everyone is patient enough to get along together, knowing that wipes and deaths are part of the game. We have 90 mins to get it done.

Problem is that some [insert child reference work here] people wants to get it done in 2 minutes, in order to get on with another thing to do in the game, to maximize their time.

For me: you joined a Dungeon that last 90 mins, you expect that it can last until 0 minute. One of my best fight was with Ultima HM with PUGs, no one left, stick to it, and we got him right on time (Seconds left on timer). That is one I still remembers as this was my dream Static group lol

- I must say I love the way you take the time to read us all and to come with being down to earth when posting.

When I play SCH, I need to watch all of the screen, trying to focus on the party but as well the mob and AoE's so I won't be affected. For me it's more challenging than Tanking.

Tanking comes second: You need to watch the Mob and Aoe's (telegraphs) Adds, Your Melee friends (if you need to use Cover), your colour aggro meter, the party's White meter to make sure the number 2 won't take aggro off you soon.

These are challenging to me (I'm just an average player) so it can be a bit overwhelming to some, understandable.

Pile that with being blasted by anyone (DPS or Healer or OT, MT) doesn't help.

Pretty sure (hopefully) that everyone is trying their best (I've seen lots of cases where it's false, getting comments like: sorry was watching youtube-TV o.O) to make things smooth.

To me, DPS is the easiest of it all, where you only have to check the mobs, telegraphs and your aggro bar. Then you can use your Flashier skills than Flash (trust me on the incoming Ninja ) So for me it's more about the animations than being the number one DD of the server.

I added before I felt overwhelmed as a tank but also once an encounters mechanics are known after a while of doing it, they become trivial.

This is what makes Tanking to become boring, so much that some people with ADD will be doing something else at the same time.

When a new dungeon or Trial comes, it's new for everyone. People will be more patient for sure. After a while, the ones that will have downed it will expect everyone else on all servers to have downed it. That's a false assumption and it's causing some nice chat ^^

I think, for me, it is the almost needed requirement to study an encounter before playing with others outside friends and FC mates.

Ok you lost me here. If you are the first one to discover this event, how can you study it? o.O Simple, you get down and dirty like everyone else. But yes, with Friends, it's more forgiving ^^

[LygerZero]

In a fight the challenge for a dps comes from the monster they are fighting, where the challenge for a tank comes from the other players they are fighting with.

I like that...

[TouchandFeel]

I like that...

I couldn't tell if you were referring to my comment or if you like tanking because of that aspect.

But anywho, I like that aspect of tanking, for the most part, because I find it more fun to have to adjust to and be challenged by actual people than a preset programmed NPC. Its more dynamic and therefore more engaging to me, but I could see how some people wouldn't like it.