Asking for a Mage Tank if DRK Fail to resolve the Lack of Tank.

[Bishop81]

Lack of tanks is not an issue about how "fun" the role is, but the responsibility behind it. Tanks are generally your leaders. The group typically moves at the pace of these players. No one wants to lead a group, they're just more comfortable following... and subsequently complaining lol.

It really doesn't help that there is no way to "ease" into it.

You effectively have to learn via the School of Hard Knocks - through trial and error, make mistakes and potentially get flamed by players expecting an experienced tank.

With DPS, you can at least have the other DPS carry you while you figure things out - the dungeon will just take longer; not catastrophically fail like with a tank or healer.

PS:

Maybe the strict division of the Holy Trinity needs to go/be relaxed. Like the OP suggested, give all melee a tanking mode, then tanking will be just something one can "do on the side" at a moment's notice - even mid combat.

Analogously casters can be given a healing mode. Although there will be problems such as what to do with WHM (a mostly healing-only Job since time immemorial) and BRD which is neither melee nor a caster.

[jomoru]

Lack of tanks is not an issue about how "fun" the role is, but the responsibility behind it. Tanks are generally your leaders. The group typically moves at the pace of these players. No one wants to lead a group, they're just more comfortable following... and subsequently complaining lol. If tanking did not involve the pace mentality and responsibility of preventing your target(s) from breaking off you, you'd probably see more people take up the role.

If Role were all there wouldn't be a single thread about why any job "HAS" to be acertain role. Yet people explain why Samurai has to be DPS or tank, or why there has to be a "pure" bow class. Or why whatever favorite they had has to pick a particular role. Visuals and mechanics do matter and Tanks and Healers get the short end of the stick for options adding more won't make Healers and Tanks the most played roles but if it will help with people who are already playing who get bored with it and yes I can name 3 people who have no problem playing tanks, got bored with Paladin and now generally dps and it had nothing to do with PUGs.

[Da_Hero]

wanna know where all the tanks are....join maelstrom and do frontlines- you'll have 5 and 6 in a party

[Sethra]

THM can already equip shields, give us a tank job stone with enmity skills, and graft some INT onto tank armour and accessories. GTG.

[MomomiMomi]

wanna know where all the tanks are....join maelstrom and do frontlines- you'll have 5 and 6 in a party

I think we've had up to 14 in our 24 man alliance in Flames once.

[Casanova_Valentine]

This just says it all. Another player who previously played FFXI and thinks DRK should be a DPS. Well it's not a DPS, it's not going to be a DPS, and it shouldn't be a DPS.

This just says it all. Another player who previously played WoW and thinks that DRK should be Death Knight (Tank). WoW ruined DK for FF players. It should be DPS.

[Riki_Namu]

Not every one is a leader, nor do they want to be.

Tank roles are pretty much the leader in the group they need to know the fights and adapt quickly to bad players pulling mobs/threat because they just don't play smart or don't follow orders.

They have to know what they are doing, marking order, rotation, mechanics....

Because if they don't it really shows. A DPS on the other hand really doesn't have to know much... just dps (even if they are bad at it) and avoid the bad stuff. No accountability role vs full accountability.

[QiLymePye]

I think if they want more people to use tanks, they have to overhaul alot of things. I have tried lvling up every role and tank is last because not only is it boring, it just seems off as far as feel. Gear is boring, skills are boring, mechanics are boring, and the way you approach fights are boring. Or i should say less fun than being dps. People like to see and measure what they do. I can measure when I dps how much dmg im doing, i can measure healing by how much im healing/how many party members are dying. But as a tank, what are you measuring your success upon? Just having high hp? surviving an encounter? Generating hate? Its the least flashy of the roles, the most demanding, and its boring. They need to change that in order to improve people using it more.

[QiLymePye]

Also, the skills are horrible. They offer no fun. Tank in this game more about managing than destroying. Its giving real actual "tanks" a bad name. In actual war, you dont see tanks just standing there, taking gunfire after gunfire, everyone focusing their attack on a machine that does less damage than a pistol? No, tanks generate hate and fear because they are POWERFUL. They should be taken out first. If i was a mob in this game, you couldnt even pay me to aggro a tank. Im attacking healers and dps all day cause if i get them out the way, i have a better fight against this games tank. Theres no reason why I solo and can kill things faster with my dps than a tank holding a shield and sword or a damn axe. Thats why i hate it.

[M0xie]

I think a healer tank would be more popular than a mage tank; a paladin in every game I've played before had heals that contributed to their hate and were decent as far as group heals go. In EQ paladins had what is basically Benediction and their heal hate was fantastic. Win/win