Quote Originally Posted by Kyln View Post
If you want to be recognized (receiving commendations), then go above and beyond what is entailed for your specific role.

I think people have fallen into this pit of self-entitlement regarding things such as commendations. If you expect them, then you're doing it wrong. You need to earn them. And not everyone is going to commend you, even if you gave 200%.
I have to agree with everything Kyln mentioned - No one should feel that they're entitled to comms. That being said, you're more likely to get noticed if you've been outstanding with your performance.
Personally, I think exceptional awareness and having initiative plays a key role in capturing my attention when it comes to giving out comms.

For healers, I expect more than just the usual heal and dps (it's expected for our healer meta after all). I'd be looking for things like: E4E during big pulls in instances, refreshing SS on the tank after each engagement in dungeons, virus/disable during tank busters, sacred soil/CU during predictable raid-wide aoes, immediate use of esuna/leeches/ED for pacification, using Fluid Aura on ranged adds to bring them into aoe range, ... the list goes on.

On top of good dps, I'd also look at things like: bards automatically playing foes for mage and healer dps or bards playing ballad for healers when it counts (especially during crucial moments), bards using Wanderer's Paean on debuffs/pacification, nins using initiation with their goad, etc

For tanks, having awareness with their party's gear and capability is key when they're pulling. It's a big no if I see the tank doing huge pulls when the healer or dps are undergeared, especially if they continue to do so even after struggling to survive the first big pull.

I guess other factors for me include: whether they said hi in the beginning/ty at the end of a run, they've been doing mechanics properly, being courteous, and pulling their weight throughout.
... Unfortunately I'm usually quite lenient when it comes to giving out the comms though. As long as you say hi and you've been pleasant to be around, you'd most likely get it if you've been performing well. If I can't still decide who's performed the best in that instance, it all comes down to clever names and glamour