Healers that don't want to DPS are like DPSes who refuse to move out of AoEs.

[Mycow8me]

As a tank, I'd rather they just worry about keeping us alive cause you never know when they are going to need that extra MP from catastrophic DPS failures to dodge or any other random reason that comes along like ahk mourn spam for the 8th time cuz dps has been staggered through the fight due to deaths and low focus on CDs.

SO unless its a DPS clock mechanic or a dungeon, stop worrying about what the healer is doing and push your own dps and partners DPS instead of trying to squeeze some out of the healer. I bet half the people that complain about healers dps don't even use food to increase their own.

[Zojha]

I bet half the people that complain about healers dps don't even use food to increase their own.

You realize that the DPS gain from a healer casually DPSing is more than what 2 DPS could achieve if they both would up their performance from 50th to 90th percentile? >_> And that food is a completely insignificant gain compared to even one DPS upping their performance in such a way?

Every time I read that argument, I get the feeling people are completely oblivious about just how strong healers actually are in every aspect of the game.

[Atos]

You realize that the DPS gain from a healer casually DPSing is more than what 2 DPS could achieve if they both would up their performance from 50th to 90th percentile? >_> And that food is a completely insignificant gain compared to even one DPS upping their performance in such a way?

Every time I read that argument, I get the feeling people are completely oblivious about just how strong healers actually are in every aspect of the game.

Numbers please. Methinks when you say "casually DPSing" you mean "all-out DPSing", which would use a lot of MP you'd otherwise want for healing. and that the DPS that you're comparing the healer to aren't very good.

[Zojha]

Numbers please. Methinks when you say "casually DPSing" you mean "all-out DPSing", which would use a lot of MP you'd otherwise want for healing. and that the DPS that you're comparing the healer to aren't very good.

Until SE changes its policy on parsing and discussing the results, I'll have to direct you to "The Site That Shall Not Be Named" to find the numbers yourself. Google:"Final Fantasy Logs" and you'll find it easily, then look up the statistics for endgame dungeons (since we're talking casual content) from the menu on the upper left.
The relevant numbers are: 40th percentile for the healer, 50th percentile for DPS comparison point 1 and 90th percentile for DPS comparison point 2. Play around a bit, look at the averages, the numbers for individual dungeons and feel free to calculate it a couple times. The pattern is almost always the same. You can also find the logs themselves to see how many people died to achieve those numbers.

[Atos]

...look up the statistics for endgame dungeons (since we're talking casual content)...

First, you said "healer casually DPSing", not "healer DPSing in casual content":

...DPS gain from a healer casually DPSing is more than what 2 DPS could achieve if...

In dungeons where the tank mass pulls mobs so you can AOE them for big numbers is one thing, doing it in savage raids or ex primals between healing and mechanics is another. The latter is not what I would call "casual dps'ing", and the healer's opportunity to dps depends on their class (SCH is more capable of dps'ing between heals), what fight you're doing and how familiar everyone is with the fight.

In same tables you will find groups which did just as well without healers dps'ing much (talking about harder content like savage and primals). In the end, if healer DPS is that much of an issue you really need to take a look at the damage dealers in your group.

[Zojha]

First, you said "healer casually DPSing", not "healer DPSing in casual content"

Because there is no such thing as doing anything "casually" in non-casual content...? If you were doing content relevant activities casually, it would logically mean you're approaching the content casually, thus making it casual content for you. Therefore, the two are synonymous and preclude content you aren't doing casually. That's logical.

I'll also note that the DPS numbers for dungeons do not include trash pulls precisely because of the AoE. They're based on the boss fights. And I actually took the time to look it up for EX trials as well - In EX Trials, a healer doing slightly below average DPS only amounts to one DPS going from 50th to 90th - average. My, now you're only expecting "one" DPS to become pro to carry you instead of two. And improvement, sure, but...still unreasonable IMO.
(Oh, and for Creator Savage it's the same - White Mage aside. People are onto something when they say it suffers.)
Unfortunately however, 8-man numbers are a little skewed due to the whole "Main healer - Off healer" thing.

That said, you are certainly right that exceptional DPS can carry healers and tanks that aren't DPSing - When designing fights, SE assumes DPS will do 85-90% of their theoretical damage potential while tanks only spam the aggro combo and healers contribute 'zero' damage. So if DPS actually manage to do those 85-90%, tanks and healers could in fact not do anything of note - No Scourge, no Plunge, no Low Blow, no Dark Passenger, no Dark Arts, no Carve and Spit, no Darkside. Just aggro combo in grit and the occasional CD, while healers only heal. That's is possible by design and naturally, such groups will be able to achieve similar results to groups where tanks and healers actually contribute to damage but DPS are not gods of gaming. Personally however, I must say that I do not take this fact as reason to exempt tanks and healers from contributing, as it presents a huge double standard and sets unrealistic expectations on DPS, whereas expecting tanks and healers to contribute to DPS seems far more realistic.

[Atos]

Because there is no such thing as doing anything "casually" in non-casual content...?

To me "dps'ing casually" means something like what happens during a dungeon boss - you top up the party, throw regen the tank then stand there twiddling your thumbs. Not going all-out, but throw a couple of dots on the boss until you need to heal again and so on. In raid you can only dps during specific windows or be an off-healer and dps constantly. There is no distinction between "casual" and "focused" dps anymore, it becomes scripted.

Now, the dps have to "carry" healers and tanks? They're just doing what they're meant to do, there's no need to carry anyone. As you pointed out yourself, you can do without healers and tanks dedicating themselves specifically to doing damage. Sure it helps, but I do not see any scenario - whatsoever - in current content where a party would absolutely need healer and tank dps to clear anything. In worst case the fight is going to last longer and you'll see more mechanics. And if you party is afraid of mechanics then you'd definitely want healer to focus on healing and keep MP in reserve.

Is it worth it though? If healer is not dps'ing maybe they're conserving mp, maybe they don't trust party members not to get into stuff and are keeping an eye out for any sudden damage spikes, maybe they're still familiarizing themselves with the instance. Would you want to risk wiping the party at the price of a little extra dps?

Again, it's nice to have that extra help; but to expect and demand that they do it isn't great strategy IMO. Not if it means they won't be 100% focused on what they're actually meant to do.