But...I...I don't wanna DPS, I'm a healer...

[Ghishlain]

because i hate it D: especially the stance dance... so rational it's either stop playing as a healer - wich means for me stop playing FF14 at all because i hate the battle system except healing - or just heal.

okay, in real i am in fact doing DPS, but i don't want it. but even if i don't use any HoTs there is simply nothing to heal. and yeah, i'm not staying there around doing nothing for like 10 seconds. but i hate it : / i want something i can heal, not dps o.o/

Rational? I don't know if that's rational, but I started playing a healer to heal. I'm ok with doing DPS, but NOT ok with people expecting it from you like it's some type of rule on the game's ToS.

Then unfortunately, from a healer standpoint, this game isn't for you. The healer meta is more than a "Heal only" meta because of the way S-E has designed the game.

• The game has high potency outgoing healing and low yield incoming damage. It's very easy for heals to outpace the oncoming damage and require minimal healing in sporadic intervals.
• Healers have an ability that gives them an magic attack stat comparable to their DPS brethren. While their DPS skills aren't on the same level as a real DPS, they can still offload very potent numbers when played properly.

With the way S-E has designed this game, once you acquire a certain skill and gear level, there is little else to do as a healer but to make use of the rest of your toolkit - AKA, their DPS abilities. But choosing to ignore this aspect of your kit in a situation where you can make complete use of it, you're indirectly hampering the performance of the party.

The mark of a good healer is adaptability. Any healer worth their salt knows how to adapt to a situation regardless of the game they play. When I played WoW in the Burning Crusade era, there was little time to do anything BUT heal in raids because if the tank wasn't fully topped, a random crit spike can potentially one shot your tank. They designed their game where you NEEDED three healers healing your solo tank to prevent a wipe. That's a meta more suitable to these kind of comments.

In the FFXIV healing meta, there are lots of instances of downtime for a healer once they and their party are sufficiently geared and at these junctures they should be making use of their DPS skills to accelerate the pace of the activity.

As I've stated in the comment that was replied to - there is little reason to not make use of the rest of your toolkit unless you choose not to. Again, I reiterate - I understand that comfort level is a factor and any new healer to an instance should take time to gain that familiarity and gauge their party. Once they've hit beyond that?

...well, again, I will also reiterate I have yet to hear of a good reason to not DPS. "I don't want to" is a comment made by an unadaptable player which in my mind is something I personally frown upon but won't really openly begrudge either as long as the party is flowing forward at a good pace.

With that being said - Adapt to the meta you're given or fall into obscurity. That is your decision to make.

They don't have to? Maybe they don't feel comfortable and want to stay focused solely on healing, because they are learning. I'm sure some are lazy, but that's their choice. As long as you're all alive til the end complaining is silly.

I've already stated in my original comment about comfort level. Just to restate that since it was clearly missed.

I can understand being new and uncomfortable initially - this makes a lot of sense.

So, please enlighten me - what good reason does anyone have to not DPS as a healer when they're over geared for the situation? There has yet to be any reason outside of "I don't feel like it" or "I'm lazy" and there have been many points to the "I'm Lazy" discussion already.

Also, I'm not really complaining about the whole thing. As I mentioned earlier in this post, if you don't want to DPS and you're in my party, I'll just shrug it off and keep going. I'm just curious to hear what rational a "Heal only" healer has outside of "I don't want to" or "I'm lazy". Both are those indicate inflexibility and no desire to become a better player. Players advocating DPS advocate that because they want to see the player base grow in skill. Admittedly, some these "advocates" are too petty and aggressive about it (but that argument can be made on the "Nope, not gonna DPS" camp too).