Shortage of tanks a myth - thoughts?

[Kaethra]

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.

You misunderstood what I said. I said when classes are FORCED into a role and cannot do anything else.

If you have no Warrior or Paladin, even in 4 man content (for your current gear level) can you make due without one? Heck in the duty finder you can't even get one to pop without one of those two classes in the queue. You can preform a group without a tank, but how far is that going to get? That's what I am talking about.

I'm not suggesting to give Dragoons or whatever class a stance to make them equal tanks as Warriors and Pallies, but in a pinch, especially for the small group content. It shouldn't be too farfetched. Course this is VERY hard to balance around the 4 man group.

Everquest uses the 6 man group system and you can get by without a tank class. Heck with enough hybrids you can get by with out tanks or healers. And its a good proof of a game that doesn't force people into singular roles. In fact your role is unknown until you see what else is in the group.

If you play a Paladin, you will probably tank. But sometimes you're tank and off healer. You might even be pushed into a main healer role (they heal as well as Druids and Shaman), lacking a cleric. You might even play off dps (dps that isn't as great as true dps) and provide buffs as needed (maybe have a shaman healer, and need HP/AC buffs).

If you play a Paladin in FF, you tank. You might main tank or off tank. But that's it.

In the above example, the paladin is not uber skill allz class.

But we're not talking about something that can be changed here. We've 4 spots. We can't alter that. So yes, we're stuck with DPS x 2, Healer, and Tank, and we just have to deal with the fact that there will be a tank shortage leveling up and a tank surplus as the top.