Why aren't there more tanks in FFXIV?

[duvvvv]

More interesting feedback on the tank shortage. So I am seeing a "tanking is boring" response a bit more. What makes it boring to tank versus DPS or healing? Is the positioning requirements of DPS that much more exciting? Is watching and managing health and status bars more interesting?

I won't say tanking is boring, I just don't like the mechanics of being rooted at a spot using skills which are meant to increase enmity, rather than being at a distance using skills which are meant to take down enemies faster. as I said, I dislike melee, my choice of weapon/class is anything that can provide me range and high dps. healing on the other hand is a challenge because I get to work with a similar set of mechanics but focused on my fellow players instead.

maybe it's also because I like gunning enemies down in single/offline games and if ever I have to melee it would be mostly in stealth, so the idea of collecting all the enemy npcs then burning them down slowly doesn't appeal to me at all.

[KingOfAbyss]

as others may be well acquainted with the encounter and want a smooth run. A reason you see people leave a party if a wipe occurs once.

A smooth run goes when everyone is patient enough to get along together, knowing that wipes and deaths are part of the game. We have 90 mins to get it done.

Problem is that some [insert child reference work here] people wants to get it done in 2 minutes, in order to get on with another thing to do in the game, to maximize their time.

For me: you joined a Dungeon that last 90 mins, you expect that it can last until 0 minute. One of my best fight was with Ultima HM with PUGs, no one left, stick to it, and we got him right on time (Seconds left on timer). That is one I still remembers as this was my dream Static group lol

- I must say I love the way you take the time to read us all and to come with being down to earth when posting.

When I play SCH, I need to watch all of the screen, trying to focus on the party but as well the mob and AoE's so I won't be affected. For me it's more challenging than Tanking.

Tanking comes second: You need to watch the Mob and Aoe's (telegraphs) Adds, Your Melee friends (if you need to use Cover), your colour aggro meter, the party's White meter to make sure the number 2 won't take aggro off you soon.

These are challenging to me (I'm just an average player) so it can be a bit overwhelming to some, understandable.

Pile that with being blasted by anyone (DPS or Healer or OT, MT) doesn't help.

Pretty sure (hopefully) that everyone is trying their best (I've seen lots of cases where it's false, getting comments like: sorry was watching youtube-TV o.O) to make things smooth.

To me, DPS is the easiest of it all, where you only have to check the mobs, telegraphs and your aggro bar. Then you can use your Flashier skills than Flash (trust me on the incoming Ninja ) So for me it's more about the animations than being the number one DD of the server.

I added before I felt overwhelmed as a tank but also once an encounters mechanics are known after a while of doing it, they become trivial.

This is what makes Tanking to become boring, so much that some people with ADD will be doing something else at the same time.

When a new dungeon or Trial comes, it's new for everyone. People will be more patient for sure. After a while, the ones that will have downed it will expect everyone else on all servers to have downed it. That's a false assumption and it's causing some nice chat ^^

I think, for me, it is the almost needed requirement to study an encounter before playing with others outside friends and FC mates.

Ok you lost me here. If you are the first one to discover this event, how can you study it? o.O Simple, you get down and dirty like everyone else. But yes, with Friends, it's more forgiving ^^

[Ichimaru]

I try to be patient with tanks...i really do. however the last couple of roulettes i have done have gone terrible.

1.Tank marks targets in hala hm…I was blm and the other dps was smn. Why would you do that we are perfect job for aoe. He also refuses to tank more than 1 mob so its not like i can just flare away and be safe. he would rarely use flash too.

2.Tank has i110 burtgang and the i110 shield. Im using blm atma and still manage to pull hate off him (vigil hm)...me and the healer try to give him advice and are met with silence. me and the other dps end up having to pull mobs off the healer because the tank is in his own world ignoring us.

3.Tank blows all defensive cool downs at the start of each boss fight in haukke hm (yes, all of them before engaging the boss). i ask him why? he says "because i wanna start the fight strong"...pulls mobs with provoke too. He has novus sword and shield…

I think the question we should be asking is why aren’t there more good tanks?

[MirielleLavandre]

I think the question we should be asking is why aren’t there more good tanks?

As we kinda stated quite a few times, all the good tanks are running their roulettes and such with FC/LS/friends. When you end up with that one random tank that didn't queue w/ friends or FC, you might end up with the ones who have tons of i110 (given how easy it is to get if all you do is hunt -- which would also explain their lack of tanking knowledge and dungeon mechanics), but no idea about how to tank. What is sad is that this game has pretty much made it that, besides story dungeons and missions, someone can FATE their way to 50, echo their way to relic, and then Hunt their way to almost full i110 with almost zero knowledge of team play and aggro management... *sigh* I mean, do you really like taking your own PLD into PUG roulettes -- it is way to toxic there for my tastes :P

[Tyrious]

"But I've always enjoyed doing roulettes, grouping up with random people and having fun, exploring dungeons, and so forth."

Makes me wish you were on Famfrit. I'd run with you and enjoy every relaxing, fun minute of it. People need to stop treating MMO's like their full time job and just enjoy the ride.

[Charisma]

Because i think the most people dont want to be a 2handed axe wearing tank which can tank on any lvl facerolling,
While Paladin starts being cool at 28, just to suck at 32 again untill 40..

[DishSoap]

I see tanks all the time, that said most of them are decked out in i100+. I feel the reason people don't tank in lower level stuff when they already have a decked out character is very simple, they don't need to.

It all stems from Low Level Roulette.
-Low Level Roulette is the only way to get massive exp. bonuses for unleveled classes.
-If all jobs are at level 50 the myth from it can easily be substituted or done with another job because...
-Low level tanking sucks and...
-Low level healing gives just as fast queue times with literally less than half the effort you have to put into it.

It's probably also why you hear so many "tank horror stories". Since most of the tanks you're getting in low level dungeons will probably be new players most of the time.

[Whiteprincess]

I'm not a tank main, but tank sometimes. For me coming from WoW. I miss the mobile style tank where you can aoe/even if it doesn't do much dmg without a care in the world, feeling.

Sure I can do flash, but it just doesn't feel the same. That and in this game you have to "Plant" yourself to a spot.... which takes away some fun. Since certain classes have to hit flank or from behind. That's basically the reason why I don't tank much. Having to plant myself takes away the fun for me. That and not having another aoe for fun. I don't need it for threat purpose..... Its just what i enjoyed when tanking in wow. pld had some linking flash move, dk had howling something that aoe .. it just made it feel more fun being able to move freely and/or with aoe. Tank in this game feels a bit stiff.

[Zoeila]

the reason for the lack of tanks is quite simple...the world is full of sheep and only a select few of us have what it takes to shepherd them as well as protect them from the wolves. though admittedly i hate tanking fights that i feel ask too much such as ramuh/garuda ex. also all those people that say dps greif you.....guess what? your the tank with the instant queue you have the power. i actually find that as long as you can hold aggro most players tend to be pretty forgiving of any other shortcomings you may have. if someone wants to be a dick to me or any other tank then it's vote dissmiss time.

[Aaramis]

I've seen numerous posts in this article suggesting they use CoS for AoE only - am I the only one that uses it frequently, even on a single target? It's a free off-global cooldown DoT... why not use it? I also weave in Spirits on a regular basis unless it's a mob I know I'll have to silence - otherwise, again, free dps.

Anyways, back to the original topic - tanking *can* be boring. It can also be frustrating (I've done dungeon runs where I shield lob, and before I can gather the 3+ mobs for a flash, the BLMs in the group are already AoEing - sometimes even starting with a Flare. Yeah, try keeping aggro down on THAT). It can also be stressful, as already mentioned that you tend to be viewed as "the leader", even if you're a newb to the dungeon.

And the rewards for this kind of gameplay? An ugly-arse lion or bear that you need to run high level dungeons 9235190357097 times for.

Yay?