DPS Double Standard

[GenericMagus]

DISCLAIMER: I understand this will be a controversial topic, and I fully understand what I am saying. This is just what I have noticed within the game as I tend to notice, particularly on df/pf decent+ tanks and healers and Mediocre to absolutely terrible DPS. I am not being elitist, and I can understand if you interpret that from this post. I don’t want every DPS to be raid class 1st world pusher, I just feel this is a problem within the community that I feel that I should high light this.

Throughout all of the game, and after quite a while of playing and from what I’ve been reading, is that to me, I have noticed that there’s a DPS double standard that I see in-game and from what I have read from different forums and from what I have heard from my friends. What do I mean by this? That DPS are much more likely and have it easier to get let off the hook than tanks or healers, and are able to get away with doing stuff that tanks or healers wouldn’t be able to even dare attempt to do (such as coming in under geared, not knowing half of how to play their job, or scratch that, even their role).

But why do people take this attitude? Well, it seems to be the case that tanks and healers are by far the most important roles when it comes to dungeons or trials (raids do count somewhat, but that’s not what I want to talk about, as this is in general, and if you want to do raiding, you need to be at 100% of your game to even consider doing it) while DPS has the least responsibility out of the 3 roles. While this is basic knowledge, this is really important to consider.
But where does this double standard come in? This is where the 1st point I am going to make.

1: The General Apathy of the population to underperforming DPS.
In grouped content, the tank has to hold threat, healers have to heal, while the DPS has to DPS. If the group is failing, because the tank cannot hold threat, then that’s no longer a tank, so the tank’s called out on it, while the healer that cannot heal is no longer a healer, so the same applies, while the DPS that cannot DPS, is still doing DPS. This where it becomes obvious, because we as a community cannot allow bad tanking or bad healing to slide by us, while with bad DPS, we go “Eh, could have been faster, at least I don’t have to see them again” and we just treat the bad DPS as another bad player that they hope to never encounter in the future again. This brings me to my 2nd point.

2: The ease of Overgearing, and the effect it has and the ability to carry
While raids are the only place where this is equal when it comes to all 3 roles being treated fairly, outside of this content is where the disparity between the 3 roles are highlighted. Take for example Bismarck EX. If the tank cannot tank, the adds get out of hand and kills the healers, forcing a wipe, if the healers cannot heal, they cannot cope with the weather mechanics and adds which gets people killed, while for the DPS if they cannot DPS, adds die slower and so does the carapace. However, while this seems equal, also consider this. Because of how the game is structured, and the ease of gearing up, the DPS are able to better their DPS just through sheer weight of gear, making the DPS check of Bismarck EX less and less harder to do. While this is somewhat true for the tanks and healers, they can help contribute to the DPS check, and while they still benefit from gear, it does not improve their skill at the job, as gear can only do so much, it’s up to the player’s ability to do their role. For the DPS, as they are always doing their role, over gearing boosts their DPS and survivability, allowing them to do their job much more effectively regardless of their skill. While they may not be the first to clear, they can still clear eventually than bad tanks or healers who have a much harder time doing so, because of said skill that requires the tank and healer to bring.
What happens that in a farm group, thanks to over gearing, the 2 tanks, 2 healers and 2/3 DPS are able to carry the 1 or 2 DPS that would usually be unable to clear, or even hold the group back, as it becomes much easier to carry them through the fight than to teach them their job and teaching them to learn the mechanics. Because of how the tanks + healers can make up the DPS, this results in my next point

3: There is less incentive to get better and 4: The invisibility and accountability
Both of these are related, but different, but they both deserve to be talked about at the same time. To go with being carried thanks to over gearing, but also to the fact that, unlike tanks and healers, DPS aren’t as hounded upon by the population than them. This is because they are far more noticeable than DPS, and that more often than not, the whole success of anything outside of raid depends more on the tank and healer than anything else. Because of the paradox of the DPS that can’t DPS is still DPSing, many people over look this, because as stated in point 1, people just have a general apathy over DPS, because as long as the dungeon is cleared, DPS are able to get away with putting in much effort, as such, unlike the hounded tanks and healers who are forced to get better or they cannot progress, DPS can make little improvement in their performance and just go about just fine. Because of how the game is structured, anything in casual content that has a DPS check is largely irrelevant, because the tanks and healers (possibly the other DPS too) can make up for the lost DPS that was meant to be given out by that sole DPS. As many mechanics for DPS is mostly 1. Survive and 2. DPS, this gives DPS little responsibility in the party, and makes their actions less accountable, as tanks and healers have to go through mechanics that DPS can easily ignore, focusing more of the actions on these roles than others. Because of the fact that nobody can see DPS, means that it takes a lot more effort focusing on what the DPS is doing rather than the tanks or healers.

This results in, while how few tanks and healers are, but on average they tend to be decent or better, DPS ends up much poorer on average as a result of this. With poorer DPS, it puts more pressure on the other members of the group to put in much more work than what should be expected of them, which means that to increase the chances of success/ make a slow run go faster, the tanks and healers have to chip in, putting themselves more at risk by doing the job the DPS should be doing.

Tell me what you think about my post and discuss what you think about my observations. Does this make sense, does it not, or could there be something that I’m missing from my observations.

[Eskuire]

Eh, i can see it from both ends of the spectrum honestly. I remember the first time I tanked WoD I remember thinking "How the hell am I going to hold aggro over 23 people" but I digress.

See, DPS are a grey area in every MMO, Tanks and Healers are held to a higher accountability because the dungeon (pending it isn't a DPS Race, IE Bismarck EX first phase) then the DPS isn't really needed, all they do is make it go faster or perform a multi-person mechanic (Like Bibliotech in Library). Tanks and Healers are nearly 9 times out of 10 the reason a dungeon succeeds or doesn't. If you can't hold aggro because you're a bad tank, people will let you know, if you can't heal they will as well, and if you screw up as a DPS and someone notices, 99% of the time you're gonna get called out and yelled at. (I did this once on A4, I forgot to soak the laser and got yelled at lol) or even kicked from the duty outright. I've been a part of many dungeons with people undergeared and getting yelled at for it.

However, don't think I'm not agreeing with you though. I do, the general populace here is rather "yeah, whatever, go about my day" when it comes to bad DPS and defend it with the "They pay 15 dollars to play how they want if it's bad or not" is just dumb, considering I do as well and would like people have a sense of wtf they are doing. But the problem with the undergeared, the ramifications it has on Healers and Tanks are FAAAR greater than it does a DPS. Losing 300 dps is livable in 95% of the dungeons as opposed to physically not being able to progress from the other perspective. Tanks and Healers to me will always be real "specialization" classes

[Seryl199]

I think lack of accountability and awareness plays plenty of a part. The most common DPS checks that DPS run into during leveling content, where they are learning their jobs, is defeat the enemy before the healer runs out of MP. When paired with a good healer, not only is that MP a bountiful resource, the healer can often help DPS too. There's almost never a situation that arises in the early/ midgame that singles out a DPS and says they didn't do good enough. A tank or healer can jump in any day of the week, botch their role, and get called on it, or realize it themselves, with readily visible cues like deaths or uncontrolled mobs, while a DPS skates by, uncaring, or perhaps even totally unaware, of their deficiency.

I don't pretend that DPS is easy, as a career healer, seeing an optimized DD pumping out numbers while handling mechanics is awesome. But I do think the game lacks proper feedback for DPS, while feedback for tanks and healers is more mechanically and visually apparent. It's easy to see a bad healer or bad tank, but it's less readily apparent when a DPS is bad, especially when a DPS may not even be looking for feedback that they're underperforming, thinking that they're doing their role at a certain level of competency.

[ShadowYomi]

While a tank and healer are easily called out for their mistakes I feel that they are less likely to be kicked because of their role due to the small amount of them and people not wanting to wait for a replacement or start over.Which leads to the group just putting up with them just so they can finish the instance. On the other hand how often do you see when a DPS is kicked the phrase they are a dime a dozen pop up? Or even when the DPS is in the right but is still called out and kicked because other members don't want to anger the tank or healer. Lets face it just like how people say the good healers or tanks only run content in premade the same can be said for DPS.

[NorthernLadMSP]

Here are my two opinions on the matter of healer DPS.

1. I always try to DPS whenever I can by CHOICE. Usually just in dungeons, but I also throw in some DPS in PVP, raids and primals because I enjoy it. I cannot stand when healers stand around doing nothing when there's no healing to be done.

2. However, on the flip side, I'm getting really sick and tired of being FORCED to DPS because of the fact that DPS aren't doing their job up to par. DPS as a healer should be my choice, not a requirement because of someone else's lack of skill.

[Februs]

I think part of it has to do with the mentality behind the player who chooses the job as well. I know a lot of Dps players who have an interest in healing/tanking, but they never swap jobs because they are actually scared of the responsibility.The fact is, Dps don't really have any responsibilities within dungeons (with the exception being a few Raids), other than making it go by faster. For players who fear responsibility, or being held accountable for group success, playing as Dps enables them to hide under that fear. Just blend in with the endless mass of other Dps players. Easy.

In the worst cases, a lot of them fall so far under the lazy carpet of "being Dps" that they don't even bother to learn their rotations well enough to pump out maximum dps output, and, worse yet, they get away with it. Parsers are illegal in this game, so there's no real way to prove that a Dps in under-performing in a dungeon or raid, unless that dungeon has a strict Dps check. For example, When it first came out, Bismark Ex very clearly showed a lot of Dps just how inadequate their skills were. Back we had to run that content in ilvl 175/180 gear, it was required of every Dps to perform at their best. In a fight like that, it was clear when someone was not, but that's rare and only lasts as long as the content is "cutting edge." Once gear levels improve, Dps can go back to being lazy and hiding under the comfortable rug of "being Dps."

Don't get me wrong. I'm a primary tank, so I know the pain of having to deal with all the responsibility in a dungeon/Trial/Raid. I can understand why a lot of players don't like the idea of being the one that everyone points a finger at if something goes wrong (even if it's not your fault), but, at the same time, because I've been that guy I can't help but find it a little vexing that Dps get a free pass. I always enjoy the sound of the other shoe when a Dps finally tries Tanking and realizes just how much unfair blame is laid at their feet.

[JeniLinsky]

When I tank, the queue for a dungeon insta-pops. I don't think I've ever waited more than five minutes to get in to one in that role. As a Dragoon or a Monk, I've waited over an hour. Consequently, I spend much more time in dungeons leveling tanks, which encourages learning party-friendly routines. As a DD, I spend more time on FATEs or leves, which doesn't, really.

[FunkYeahDragons]

Your reward is killing lots of things and killing them fast.

Anyway, I think improvement is largely self-motivated. I hear about players who quit a role due to anxiety over messing up just as often as I hear about players who work extra hard to improve so that they don't mess up. What's stopping someone from just walking away from verbal abuse in a video game?

[Nicobo]

So the conclusion is DPS needs in game parser? ^^;

[OPneedNerfs]

The game is too afraid of adding tighter DPS checks to learning content so people doing abyssmal dps just ride through to 50 and 60.

Of course it doesn't matter at the end of the day because FATEs are still gonna be there for levelling.