Shortage of tanks a myth - thoughts?

[Shurrikhan]

When I started ARR I preferred to dps, especially as a class who could offtank or kite if shit hit the fan. Then I found tank queues.

Kidding, that's not quite the ending there... But, in the same vein, I actually didn't mind tanking for DF groups as long as I could explain things while on the run, the healer was decent, and the Bard didn't CD-blast things before my having even reached them. I usually found a good pace for making suggestions as not to be too rude (or, not rude enough to adversely affect party behavior by my commenting). Over time I found I could hurry the run even more by being an aggressive Cleric healer, and then back and forth between the two according to ilvl and weapon quality. Since then I've done almost every solo-queue Expert roulette as either healer or tanks not just because of the queues, but also (or especially, even) because I felt like I was less constrained by the difference between a random group and my own when in a (slightly more) commanding role compared to a dps. I feel like this is where the major difference comes in. Some of it may come down to your general confidence in tanking, but after that it's in what situations (in which role) do you feel that something is lacking. For me, queuing as dps often felt worse than tank/healer, so with the queue time difference, dps was just something I queued as with friends for the change of pace.

[lordoftheapes79]

I played a tank when the game began and through most of first coil when I was on pc. But my pc died(alienware regrets) and I was banished to ps3. While its fine with small numbers of mobs, finding the target I want in a large group is cumbersome and even though I was among the earliest to clear first coil, the flip from being considered a great tank to a mediocre one was heartbreaking. I main'd Dragoon for awhile then settled in as a bard. I have come to love it, but sometimes I do play it like I'm a tank. The thing about bards is they can take care of themselves most of the time. If I pull a mob and can handle it I'll kite it around until its dead. If not I'll bring it to the tank. I tell rookie tanks all the time: Gnawdy tanking guide, lesson 1. DON'T CHASE THE BARD! If he can't handle it he'll bring it to you, or die.

[Riastrad]

I have been taking since Garuda in 1.0. I will not say I'm the best, but as a tip for anyone looking to start, remember one thing. Always add at least 1 more overpower/flash when you have a Blm and Brd in the pt. Do it!

[lordoftheapes79]

I played a tank when the game began and through most of first coil when I was on pc. But my pc died(alienware regrets) and I was banished to ps3. While its fine with small numbers of mobs, finding the target I want in a large group is cumbersome and even though I was among the earliest to clear first coil, the flip from being considered a great tank to a mediocre one was heartbreaking. I main'd Dragoon for awhile then settled in as a bard. I have come to love it, but sometimes I do play it like I'm a tank. The thing about bards is they can take care of themselves most of the time. If I pull a mob and can handle it I'll kite it around until its dead. If not I'll bring it to the tank. I tell rookie tanks all the time: Gnawdy tanking guide, lesson 1. DON'T CHASE THE BARD! If he can't handle it he'll bring it to you, or die.

[Hidalgo]

The abuse has led me and my friends in my FC to dub the asshole tank mentality "Diva Tank". All of us have a tank at level 50. We each have it geared for almost all content currently available, and we each have suffered through the horrors of DF shlubs. Each of us have gotten to the point where if someone tries to dictate what we do, we say: "Screw that noise, I do what I want. I'm the Tank, and I have faster queue times than you. You can leave if you want, I really don't care".

It's usually aimed at DPS who insist that the tank pulls their way, when it's honestly not up to us whether we speedrun or not. We have to keep our healers in mind. If the healer is okay with it, and can keep up with the damage, then we're all for it. If they're not, or one of the DPS isn't doing AoE's, then we don't, no matter how pissy the DerPS get.

[Kaethra]

I don't know if its been said here or not.. 12 pages is a bit to read.

But Tanks just aren't needed after a certain point. Think about it, everyone who's doing something has their 2 tanks. That's right they only need 2. They need specific DPS classes to round out their statics and raids. This happens in most MMORPGs.

Sure the low level queues are lacking tanks, but at the top of the spectrum, they aren't needed as much. So those tanks switch to DPS and cause the cycle to repeat.

The problem is in the holy trinity itself. And more specifically pushing classes into singular roles.

[Nadirah]

My favorite tank so far is the bot tank from Brayflox we kicked, then got immediately again. I bailed. Sorry can't heal that mess.

[ShadowYomi]

Unfortunately this cycle will keep repeating itself. For example as long as it is perceived that tanks and healers should have more respect than dps they will always be put under the microscope. Likewise if a dps is viewed with little to no respect they may not respect you or feel no reason to actually put in effort. In a perfect world everyone would respect one another.

[KisaiTenshi]

The problem is in the holy trinity itself. And more specifically pushing classes into singular roles.

There is nothing wrong with the roles. You either end up with V1.0 style "dynamic class changing in battle" or you end up with Mabinogi-style "I have all the skillz and am a master at none" if you don't lock the roles. The problem is a lack of enforcement of the roles when the powercreep from the gear diminishes the roles for the tank and healer. That makes everyone try to faceroll through the content without paying attention to the game mechanics.

The player needs to come into the dungeon prepared to do the role they queued as, otherwise they make everyone miserable, and by extension make the game sound like it's filled with either crappy players or adult-children who don't know what responsibility is. Combine that with the RMT problems and it's a wonder why MMORPG's don't have greater churn.

[Onikimaru]

Yeah basically the OP is right, however i myself still tank in DF i just usually ask politely if the DPS and healer are up for a speedrun or if they want to take it slow.