Please stop removing Damage Over Time effects from every job, add more complexity

[Almandaragal]

Keeping up DoTs isn't actually engaging, though. It's busy work. I dislike playing (most) classes with DoTs for the same reason I mostly dislike playing melee: Busywork upkeep timers. There's no actual need to make melee need to upkeep a "damage up debuff"; just bake a little more potency in. However, that then removes the "need" for the 2nd combo, since the typical point of said secondary combo for upkeep jobs is that upkeep just to make you press different buttons. It gets even more "fun" when the debuffs are ridiculously short and mechanics or boss downtime wrecks your upkeep.

I understand that for some people, having to upkeep the DoT or debuff is entertaining. As the OP implied for themselves, they seem to like the juggling. I'm glad that some people enjoy it. I personally find it stupid, especially when the timers are under 30 seconds of duration. I play RDM because I don't have to deal with that crap. There's also a bit of freedom in terms of being able to hold a burst for movement, or wait a few more seconds until a buff is off cooldown, etc. I'm not chained (as much) to specific timers. I personally say good riddance to most of them, in their current forms. If the whole max debuffs on a target thing wasn't a thing, I'd say bring on a job more based around DoTs; but that won't happen anytime soon. DoT doesn't play well with a singular, focused burst meta, so expect them to keep removing DoTs where possible.

All that aside, because this IS the tank forum (despite this topic being more general feedback), engaging tank play shouldn't have anything to do with DoT upkeep anyway. Unfortunately, engaging content for a tank requires either more mitigation needed, or mob management, etc. My personal hope is that in streamlining/simplifying how tanks play, they'll be able to then create more engaging scenarios come 7.x. I'm not holding my breath, but you do need some groundwork laid before you make sweeping changes to how encounters are done. Whether or not that's their plan I have no idea, but I won't cry seeing most DoTs disappear, especially if it makes way for updated skill pools and/or encounter design.

[Shurrikhan]

Keeping up DoTs isn't actually engaging, though. It's busy work. I dislike playing (most) classes with DoTs for the same reason I mostly dislike playing melee: Busywork upkeep timers.

As compared to...? The blank sheet of 'hit anything at any time'? Keeping solely to the far more rigid timers of combos?

My personal hope is that in streamlining/simplifying how tanks play, they'll be able to then create more engaging scenarios come 7.x.

Except as kits have been simplified, contextual tanking gameplay has also/likewise been simplified. There's not just less to do now against a striking dummy; there's less, too, to do specific to any given modern fight.

[Almandaragal]

As compared to...? The blank sheet of 'hit anything at any time'? Keeping solely to the far more rigid timers of combos?

As compared to a little more flexibility in how one can handle the current situation, or even just other little things. Over time, I've realized that it wasn't positionals that annoyed me on melee so much (at least, in their minimal presence as they are now), but the debuff timers. As noted in the next paragraph, I enjoy things like the leeway RDM provides in terms of not absolutely requiring that the burst be used immediately because there's enough gauge to have overflow without capping. Granted, I don't do the highest levels of encounter, so that may not be as present there. However, in the vast majority of content, a little leeway is something I find far more enjoyable than hitting a random button or weaker combo just to upkeep a timer.

Except as kits have been simplified, contextual tanking gameplay has also/likewise been simplified. There's not just less to do now against a striking dummy; there's less, too, to do specific to any given modern fight.

I mean, the literal very next words in that post that were removed were "I'm not holding my breath [...]", indicating that I wasn't specifically expecting it despite the hope. I also mention, later in said same sentence, that some groundwork does need to be laid before you can typically do massive overhauls. Do I expect that that is where they're going? Unfortunately not. The job complexity concerns definitely need to continue to be brought up so that SE understands that not every job needs to be as simple as most of them currently are. I personally just don't really find DoT management to be the way to go about it. Rather, I don't find it engaging, merely annoying.