Quote Originally Posted by Ricola View Post
Is boss positioning really a highlight on tanking?
Positioning and movement is a central part of tanking in most games. The problem with FFXIV is that mobs generally cannot activate abilities while moving. Even for simple abilities like cleaves, mobs generally have a brief period of animation lock that becomes noticeable if you're backpedalling while tanking. It's a bit of a strange programming limitation, especially when even ancient games like Warcraft never had issues like this even 16 years ago. That's also coupled with a historical exploit in which spinning mobs prevented them from activating abilities. It's not even that the development team don't know how to design tanking mechanics; the present animation locks limit them from doing so even if they knew how.

DDR shouldn't be confused with tank positioning mechanics, either. Both tanks and melee dps do the similar DDR. For tank positioning/movement to be a unique experience, you need responsive mobs that move easily, with quick cleaves that can happen while moving to ensure that the tank orientates the mob properly. Mob movement in this game feels like molasses half the time, and the other half they ignore your positioning and the fight is the equivalent of a rail shooter.