According to the survey, an equal number of people play the tank and healer roles

[Krindor]

Simply if the tanks tank they are going to be spending a long time in the dungeon instead due to your every day DPS which is usually quite bad, so either we just queue up as DPS or run with friends for a run that takes a lot less time. As a WAR in i180 gear I am the top DPS about 90% of the time in DF.

[Probably_Nice]

DF for dungeons? Rarely a problem tanking them. All of the dungeon content is pretty much faceroll at this point, and the only complications I've experienced tanking them lately has been the occasional impatient, DPSing, gogogogo #pullemall healer.
DF for extreme primals? This is the only place I can say the "DF players are trash" narrative I've heard so much of lately holds water. Not only will I not tank these, I won't spend more than 30 minutes attempting them with any job if progress isn't being made. Read a guide, watch a video, or gtfo my DF.

[Seryl199]

Wow. I hope you never speak to any actual real people of one random comment from a stranger makes you this cryface.

So what if it does? Everyone has different levels of tolerance to abuse, and some people are quite sensitive. I've been turned off of tanking for a couple months after being persistently harassed by a healer to pull more in a leveling dungeon until I up and left. What gets under your skin today might have bounced off tomorrow, but when it does get under your skin it can be an experience that sticks with you.

Having a thick skin certainly helps when you're putting yourself in an anonymous environment like this, but saying you should toughen up because there are jerks in the world doesn't make it ok to be a jerk. People will still have crap days, get stressed out, or be dealing with a myriad of problems outside the game, and come to Eorzea to have fun and chill. Piling on unnecessary hate from your own party members doesn't service anyone, it just makes one person feel like trash. Don't pretend for a second abusive behavior from randoms is ok, because yes, even one or two snide remarks from a digital avatar can be hurtful when said at the wrong time and place.

[Aeyis]

Fact of the matter is, the tank gets lumped up with all sorts of responsibility that is *not* part of that job. I know plenty of folks that love playing tanks and getting their face mashed in, but don't want to lead the group, don't want to be responsible for everything, explaining mechanics.

I kind of miss the MMO days where the person who had a clue was the group's leader, rather then ''default to tank''.

[sirDarts]

I have done EVERYTHING from lvl 1 to Praetorium using only DF. And the majority of the content after as well, very rarely with some FC mates.
The only times I have seen tanks get called out (which many of you apparently fear) is when they keep losing agro all the time. Like literally all the time. Or completely fail mechanics.

So it looks like the only tanks getting called out are the bad ones. That would mean bad tanks stay out of DF for the most part. I call winning! :X

[Kaurie]

I can say the same thing for any other job I'm playing. The discussion question is why it's tanks moreso than other roles. There's a huge amount of pressure on the healer as well.

For me, doesn't matter about the pressure. Honestly, never felt pressure with any of my jobs.

However, dealing with awful players is by far the worst for tank, if only because it slows the party down. If I go as DPS, I can ensure we are killing stuff at least an OK pace.

Fastest Neverreap with my SMN -> 14 minutes
Fastest Neverreap with my PLD -> closer to 35 minutes

[Eothas]

Some people are saying that healing is just "Cure and go AFK", the same goes for tank "Flash/Overpower 3x and go AFK", if you want to be that bad, macro 5 overpower / flash and you can watch Netflix. The only time that I think tank is stressful is if its your FIRST time on that dungeon, then yeah, people will expect that you lead without having a clue.

You know what people pay more attention than your little tanker 3d model? Their HP bars, if anything goes wrong, no matter what, the healer will be blamed, because if someones HP bar reachs 0, obviously is the healers fault, right?

I'm sorry, but I feel that I have much more control of the fight as a healer. I can fix other players mistakes (Not talking about savage, but I'm sure most here arent aswell), I can cast shields on the newbie that I know will eat unnecessary damage, I can push DPS, I can keep the bad tank alive with good use of CDs most of the time. As a tank you will just feel impotent with a bad party, you will do DPS and move the mobs/boss where you please, after that you can just pray that your party is good enough.

[Claire_Pendragon]

People like this tank is one of the many reasons I can't stand doing DF content on my Healer.

If some random DF person goes out their way to criticise your playstyle it's probably because you're doing something you shouldn't.

He quite literally posted "UNCONSTRUCTIVELY CRITICIZE" and you straight up ignored it, trying to change the tone of what he said.

I'm sorry, the ONLY way I'd get mad, if someone spouts out insults, instead of actually criticizing.
(And if its a DPS, usually they have no idea what they are saying, and claim to play a tank, and know, while they dont know. And if it's a healer, its usually someone who wants the run to go differently, but the tank isnt actually doing bad.)

I'm sorry, but when DPS start trolling you, by purposely making sure to never attack your target (and I dont mean occasionally mistake which target u fight, I mean straight up try to, and you can trick them, by purposely switching targets, only to see them start switching off their target, once they realize you switched to their target)
They start using tactics that require purposeful intent, to drag out fights, or keep mobs alive. (Such as continuously stunning bombs as the bombs repeatedly use self destruct, and then complain the tank isnt the one stunning it, when I marked a completely different mob to be attacked, because I knew they would just self destruct, and its a waste of time fighting them.)
The typical NIN who will cut your threat in half, or the ranged DPS who will begin attacking before you're in range of a shield lob, tomahawk, w/e, if you even slightly slip up, and get behind on a single pull, despite being far enough ahead of the group 90% of the dungeon, to where the healer can barely get to you in time, before you start going down. (All the while complaining you are both too fast and too slow.)

These are the most common issues most competent tanks run into, and yet, these are all the BS things DPS love to complain about, as if it's solely the tank who needs to "git gud".
All the while standing in AoEs, and doing sub par DPS, blowing CDs at the start of a pull, but 10s later mobs stop taking dmg, and the fight seems to last forever.

[Sylve]

Reasons to avoid Tanking the DF:
- Over eager DPS pulling more mobs.
- "bored" healers pulling more mobs.
- GOGOGO FASTER FASTER WHERES YOUR STR GEAR NOOB HURRY UP WHY ARENT YOU PULLING MORE.
- DPS ignoring marks and/or hitting any mob except that which the tank is focusing on.
- DPS and Healers going to town on mobs with every cooldown blown when I'm trying to gather up the pack into a neat little ball.
- People that frequently knockback the Tanks target.
- Healers that put their personal DPS above keeping the tank alive.
- Healers dropping Regens before a pull.

Reasons to avoid healing the DF:
-Tanks that pull more than they can reasonably handle.
-Tanks that never use Cooldowns.
-DPS standing in the fire. (Tanks too sometimes)

Reasons to avoid playing DPS in the DF:
-Tanks that struggle to hold enmity (usually only a problem when overgearing the Tank).

I can see why Tanks avoid the DF. Can you?

[Seryl199]

I have done EVERYTHING from lvl 1 to Praetorium using only DF. And the majority of the content after as well, very rarely with some FC mates.
The only times I have seen tanks get called out (which many of you apparently fear) is when they keep losing agro all the time. Like literally all the time. Or completely fail mechanics.

So it looks like the only tanks getting called out are the bad ones. That would mean bad tanks stay out of DF for the most part. I call winning! :X

The OP asks why tanks are less likely to be found in the DF environment. When tanks don't perform up to snuff, they get called out, cussed out, harassed, kicked, and in some times very hostile ways. There's another thread on the front page about bad DPS, there's a thread in another sub-forum asking what's up with lazy healers that don't DPS. There are bad players in every role, but tanks are very visible and very openly criticized.

It's all well and good that you can chase all the bads out of the DF, but when you simultaneously kill those players' desire to learn and improve that class, it's no surprise that every single roulette calls for a tank at every step of the way. Bad players can eventually become good, it may not be immediately noticeable, and chances are it'll never happen by the end of the run you're in, but they might never get that chance if their mistakes are being picked apart by more experienced players and aggressively criticized at every turn. To some, wading through all the hostility to get better at your class isn't worth it when you just want to sit down in the afternoon and play a video game and actually enjoy it.