Quote Originally Posted by ariaandkia View Post
I think the decision should really be on the HEALER, not the party. If the healer feels that they are better off not DPSing, then the healer should NOT DPS. If the healer feels that they are better off DPSing, then the healer SHOULD DPS.

It isn't "an intentional decision to not give a full effort." That is assuming things.

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of reasons why a healer might not want to DPS. Now, I will usually try to do what the party asks, but... If I'm spamming cure II just trying to keep the tank alive because he is taking so much damage that doing anything else will kill him (and he is literally hanging on by a thread), and you tell me to start DPSing? I will tell you to pay attention to the situation.
A healer must exercise personal judgement, yes. And there are plenty of reasons not to DPS at a given moment - the need to regenerate mp, threat, anticipation of incoming damage, and so on.

But at no point did I say that healers should start DPSing at inappropriate times...

The original assertion by the original poster was to discredit the notion that "You are a bad healer if all you do is heal". So my point is, if ALL you do is heal, then there will be times when you could opt to DPS, with no downside, and you are choosing not to. If you're not playing your class to the best of your ability, you are reducing the utility of the group. Tanks and dps also have abilities they could simply ignore while still doing their core function. Is a healer special in this regard, that they are above critique? I would argue that no such lofty position exists. It is a team effort and everyone has a role to play.