DPS Double Standard

[Zojha]

I beg to differ with this one.

It's...a bit ironic that you try to refute the point that DPSing is more complicated by stating that a tank's job starts to get really complicated if you try to maximize your DPS while tanking...

Maybe that's just me, though.

[Archaell]

It's...a bit ironic that you try to refute the point that DPSing is more complicated by stating that a tank's job starts to get really complicated if you try to maximize your DPS while tanking...

Maybe that's just me, though.

I would say that "while tanking" is the important part. It is like trying to do positionals when the mob is hitting your face.

Tanks and healers have to "stop" their main job to do dps. While DDs can do their job the whole time. That's the important difference.

The main reason why tanking and healing is viewed as more difficult is because you aren't just responsible for the way you play, you also have to keep an eye on your party members and react to their actions. DDs don't have to do this as much.

[Shirobi]

Actually, its been my experience that DPS are often held to much higher standards than healers or tanks and are expected to carry the fight and get kicked at the drop of a hat over the smallest mistake. Meantime, the healers and tanks seem to get infinite "Ooops my bads."s or "Sorry, cat was on fire gotta go AFK midboss fight"s.

[Februs]

Actually, its been my experience that DPS are often held to much higher standards than healers or tanks and are expected to carry the fight and get kicked at the drop of a hat over the smallest mistake. Meantime, the healers and tanks seem to get infinite "Ooops my bads."s or "Sorry, cat was on fire gotta go AFK midboss fight"s.

I don't think that has much to do with the Dps being held to a higher standard so much as it is a fact that if you have a crappy Dps you can swap them out in under a minute; whereas, if you have a crappy tank or healer you risk being without one for an hour if you vote/kick them.

It's for this reason that it is all the more important for Dps to at least be performing to the average level. I've never kicked a Dps for "small mistakes;" however, if you're looking for a carry, or you've repeatedly wiped the group, or you're not listening to the chat when the entire group tells you you've done something wrong, or you're just being a general A**hat in the chat box, you're done. Why should anyone put up with that when Dps are, quiet literally, a dime a dozen?

So the raid/dungeon is taking a little longer than normal because of slow/under-performing Dps? No big deal. It sucks, but that's nothing to kick someone over. One of your Dps is being a troll to the group... different story. There's plenty of other Dps who were waiting for that que timer to go off. Might as well give them a shot rather than stick with the bad apple.

[karateorangutang]

Actually, its been my experience that DPS are often held to much higher standards than healers or tanks and are expected to carry the fight and get kicked at the drop of a hat over the smallest mistake. Meantime, the healers and tanks seem to get infinite "Ooops my bads."s or "Sorry, cat was on fire gotta go AFK midboss fight"s.

I'll bite on this one.

It's true to a degree. The public image of what makes a tank and a healer great is very skewed in the community. In a 4 man dungeon my one true goal is to hold aggro.... which is like getting credit on a test for putting your name on it. It's ridiculously easy to do and alot of people are held to a low standard here. What makes a tank great though is much more than that. Holding high DPS numbers, proper postioning, prepping for tankbusters, and DPS in unison are what a tank great and not just passable. The bar is very low for tanks because its less played role. I'd agree that the bar should be set a little higher on what makes a tank great.

DPS is very black and white. If you not doing X DPS in a given situation then your simply not doing your job. There's less grey area's so it's easier to evaluate. Even if the game itself makes it harder to judge.

[Februs]

It's...a bit ironic that you try to refute the point that DPSing is more complicated by stating that a tank's job starts to get really complicated if you try to maximize your DPS while tanking...

Maybe that's just me, though.

You're right. It does sound ironic lol, but, as Archaell pointed out, you have to read the whole sentence and see the whole picture. It's doing maximum Dps output while doing all of the other things that tanks have to do.

Keep in mind that for every extra amount of Dps that a Tank does, he or she is intentionally taking away from their actual tanking. For example, for every time a PLD uses Royal Authority over Rage of Halone, they are intentionally losing part of their enmity combo which can be applied to a target. On top of that, they also lose a 10% strength reduction to the target that would have gotten hit with RoH. So, in favour of doing dmg, they're reducing their enmity and increasing the amount of incoming dmg. Thinking about dropping Shield Oath for Sword Oath to do more dmg to a boss? Well that loses you your enmity multiplier (which is a factor of x2 for a Pld) and increasing the dmg you take by 20%. Meaning you gotta compensate for that with proper buff application. On top of that, you still have to pay attention to the entire parties hp and position, as well as take care of any tank specific mechs.

Just holding aggro is easy. Holding aggro while maximizing your potential to help the group is a whole different ballgame.