Does tanking carry more responsibility than most?

[GuardianX]

My opinion as a whm healing is an easy job to master. I recently started a tank class and I am now a relic tank with DL gear. It's hard to tank because you need to know that map and all the fights. Alot of the time, ppl want to speed run and if I don't do it the right way, I get flak from other teammates.

[Katchii]

Tanking isn't hard, it just requires you to know a fight frontwards and backwards, which is still true for the other classes, but if you screw up chances are the party will wipe whereas when someone else screw up, it can probably be recovered from.

[Leira_Raine]

Most cases I don't find tanking boring because I try not to make it boring. Cad, for instance... tanking him is boring because you're just standing there. In Titan HM, you can at least time your shield bashes and slow down/stop tumults early. In dungeons you can run around like a spaz and make it interesting for people. It's just what you want to do with it really. I have to watch everyone's hate meter, health, have to try and occasionally stun a wolf from getting to a WHM if other DPS haven't reached it, switch to Sword Oath and go DPS tank.

P.S. Solo tanking chimera without any BRDs is fun.

[bokchoykn]

In Titan HM, you can at least time your shield bashes and slow down/stop tumults early.

They fixed this months ago.

[bokchoykn]

ITT: "My job is the hardest. Your job is the easiest. Get on my level, noobs."

[Instrumentality]

ITT: "My job is the hardest. Your job is the easiest. Get on my level, noobs."

My job is super hard. I have to put up with my raid group standing in red circles while I stand still!

How dare they make me look competent, I am super bad and should die first!

[Menae]

Tanking doesn't really carry more responsibility than any other job. It's just most NOTICEABLE. If a DPS uses the wrong ability, with a few exceptions in the late game, it's hard to tell. If a healer uses the wrong heal, the tank might die or it might be confused with the tank taking some big damage. If the tank loses hate, well, it's pretty obvious.

Without a tank, the group can't survive the boss damage. Without a healer, the tank (and thus, the group) can't survive the boss damage. Without DPS, the group can't kill the boss and it either takes forever or the group wipes to attrition/enrages/more opportunity for mistakes. That's why they call it the trinity folks; 'cuz you need all three.

[Wadoka]

...That's why they call it the trinity folks; 'cuz you need all three.

But we only need the three roles, because that's the way people have been designing MMOs since... shucks, UO? I can't remember. The concept of Tank didn't exist prior to. It wasn't there in the old text-based games, it wasn't there in the original Neverwinter Nights on AOL, it wasn't there in tabletop Dungeons and Dragons.

Philosophically I disagree with this "Holy Trinity" because it has soooo many issues - starting with, if you're fighting an intelligent enemy, it doesn't matter how many flashes or "hate-generating" attacks or taunts you throw out... an intelligent enemy is ALWAYS going to kill the Healer first, come what may, if they identify a Healer amongst the attackers. Or, if they have a certain level of another kind of experience... "I smell... bat guano. And sulfur. HOLY CRAP GET THE MAGE! MAGE MAGE MAGE KILL IIIITTT...!"

Heh. Another day for that discussion

[IndigoHawk]

The idea of a tank for the trinity is that enemies fight the tank because they must, not because they want to. A lot of times MMOs portray tanking with taunts, like a generic yell. Another way to think of tanks is like a grappler. If you try to run by to kill the healer or the mage, the tank grabs you as you run by and holds you so that his allies can kill you. You fight the tank because you can't ignore them safely, not because you want to fight them.

Most MMOs don't have precise directional attacks. If they did (and better positional code than FFXIV), then tanks could get targets of opportunity on anyone who ran by or wasn't facing the tank. It would achieve a similar result, that enemies would need to face the tank when the tank gets in range and be cautious about disengaging.

The problem you point out is that most tank skills look like they can be ignored. That's an unfortunate portrayal, not a problem with the tank role.