Don't misslead people about what their job does, please

[Atoli]

The issue came up in a troll thread that was locked, but the problem is real and deserves to be talked about in a troll-free place:
It's not rare for newer players to not know what their role in a party is. And I don't mean tanks dealing dmg or not. I mean that many new players don't even know that their class is a tank class, and who can blame them when the game itsself is missleading about it? SE, why don't you make it more obvious in the character creation which class is which role in group content later?

If they do that, then we might as well make a "...For Dummies" book just for this game. All the "Are you sure you wanna X" windows that pop up for everything is bloody annoying.

Yeah, they are, but making obvious which role the class is doesn't need an extra window, you know? When you pick a class, there already is something like a small profile about the class with information like which starting city it has, which weapons it uses and stuff like that. They could just add the role information there too, since most people are too lazy to read the whole text on the class which gives slight indicators to it's role most of the time.
Or, you know, they could at least not lie about the class IN that introductory text...
Because especially for GLA, they don't make it seem like a tank at all. They even literally say stuff like "If needed, they don't use a shield at all and just focus on swords and attacking." I'm still waiting for a skill that drops PLDs shield. And no, Sword Oath keeps the shield on
And we still wonder why so many clueless GLAs turn up who are shocked to find out they are gonna be a turtle and not a mantis? MAR text too only talks about how they are SOOO awesome at dealing CRAZY AMOUNTS of dmg and never even hints on anything about tanking in the description.

[Heskett]

People are indeed lazy, but if they can't even bother to read the tutorials and tooltips the game provides them, then screw 'em. You can only cater to the ignorant and dumb so much. You're also making an issue out of a non-issue. It's not rare for newer players to not know their role in the party is? The game tells you what your class' role is before you're even able to do dungeons. Then again, that would be an issue of people being lazy and not reading text the game provides for them; therefore, screw 'em.

[MatthiasS]

I actually agree. I picked up Gladiator thinking "Ok, Tank build with shield, or sword focused DPS" and was surprised to find that wasn't the case. Granted, I went in blind, over a year and a half ago, and have no problem with how the class plays. I was just really puzzled my first dungeon when everyone was waiting for me to take off running. Not to mention I kept trying to equip a second sword to my offhand.

[Roda]

Not to mention I kept trying to equip a second sword to my offhand.

Doesn't help that the gladiator symbol is two swords crossed.

[reillyblair]

its not just tanks though, dont get me wrong i like to pick on them almost as much as everyone else, but there are dps that are confused as to their role and even healers to some extent ill put what my ideas are please correct if you think i am wrong

tank role = getting the heavy hitters mainly to hit them only and grabbing any ads they can

dps role = killing ads being mindful not to attack the wrong one thus generating hate and getting yourself killed and laughed at by your team lol

healer role= above all healing the tank if tank is fine topping up melee then long range dps whilst keeping in mind heals generate hate sometimes more so then dps can get from hitting the wrong add

[Fyrebrand]

I wonder if people are coming in from WoW, where even after you've chosen a class there is still some wiggle room for what role you will play in a dungeon party. For example, in WoW you could be a Warrior, but there is a tanking spec and a DPS spec. A Priest can potentially be a healer or a DPS. And a Druid can actually be anything. It just depends on what talents you pick later on.

When I first started playing FFXIV, I honestly didn't really understand the difference between Conjurer and Thaumaturge. I figured they were both some flavours of "mage," but not that one was a dedicated healer and one was a dedicated damage dealer. I figured maybe my chosen skills, or cross-class abilities, would further hone my role in a group. But nope. It was a lot more rigid than I realized.

Games really should spell this out for people. I know these concepts are elementary for people who are used to MMOs -- but if a game is going to hinge on certain strongly-enforced mechanics, then it behooves the designers to make sure players can have no doubt about what those mechanics are.

[Kaedan]

When you queue, it's clear as day what job you are. It says in huge letters: Tank, Healer or Damage (could say DPS, can't remember right now).

[AlphaFox]

Unless you completely ignored or skipped the lessons or quests practically teaching you as a tank to grab aggro from the NPCs being attacked or as a healer to keep everyone alive, your kinda on your own there I would say. I admit gladiator at first did seem like a swordsman but you find out quick its a tank and thus either grow to accept it or end up being laughed at.

[OliviaBadger]

This is my first MMO, and when i started I picked gladiator. As far as I was aware, it was a dude with a sword. No idea what a tank was, never even heard the term "tank" or "dps" in my life. All I remember was wondering why the mobs seemed to attack me more than other people in fates and my first dungeon.

[matteoxyz]

I had no idea I had chosen tank when I started either as a Marauder. The class descriptions in character creation are extremely vague. I think they want to trick people into being tank to improve queue times ^_^