The Tank's Pledge (a damned fool's idealistic notion)

[MiniPrinny]

"To serve; to protect; to sacrifice... there is no greater calling for a knight." - Count Edmont de Fortemps

Do we, as tanks, need anything more? We serve our fellow adventurers, protect them, and we shall be damned if anyone dies before we do.

[Jican]

There are still a lot of "I am the leader" that should be modified, but ultimately, it sums up nicely. I think that everyone should live by those rules, despite the role. Wishful thinking, I know.

[Kumori_Kumo]

I butt heads with a lot of people ideologically, but the dungeon is sacrosanct. It doesn't matter who comes in with me, the team gets 100% every time.

[Ladon]

What is all this nonsense? I tank because the armor looks cool.

[TouchandFeel]

Lately, I'm afraid I've been thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know.)

That's all I needed to read to earn yourself a like.

Not sure if such sentiment will help many of the problem tanks as I suspect their sanity is only so-so.
Now the unease in my gut has been churning, since getting grouped with MT war that just Deliverance OP spam.
I promised myself that I'd avoid the Duty Finder hell,
but I've yet to be able to enact that plan ...

[Kabooa]

DPS Code of Honor.

If I pull the mob, I am obligated to kill it before it kills me. I have broken the contract between DPS and Tank in that I would responsibly use my abilities to kill the enemy without endangering the party.

I have failed.

Therefore to maintain my honor that enemy and I are now engaged in a duel to the death.

Should I win, I am redeemed.

Should I fail, LOL NOOB SCRUB TANK LOL WTF LRN TO AGGRO.

We too have a code. I hope it explains our actions.

[AriaEnia]

I tank and I feel like a slave, never feel like a leader at all. I am there getting bullied, clawed, smashed, thrown, etc. etc.
When a mob hit a healer, healer will be like "get em off me, you dirty peasant tank"
When a mob hit dps, dps will be like "How dare you let these trash touch me, you slave tank"

[seekified]

I tank and I feel like a slave, never feel like a leader at all. I am there getting bullied, clawed, smashed, thrown, etc. etc.
When a mob hit a healer, healer will be like "get em off me, you dirty peasant tank"
When a mob hit dps, dps will be like "How dare you let these trash touch me, you slave tank"

Just tell 'em "Je ne comprends pas" when that happens, they'll give up trying to tell you what to do immediately.

[Delily]

I tank and I feel like a slave, never feel like a leader at all. I am there getting bullied, clawed, smashed, thrown, etc. etc.
When a mob hit a healer, healer will be like "get em off me, you dirty peasant tank"
When a mob hit dps, dps will be like "How dare you let these trash touch me, you slave tank"

If they start that, kindly remind that you are a tank and therefore have the lowest queue time.

[Jpec07]

It's so annoying that every tank thinks they are the 'leader'. Just because you have a sword and target the mobs first does not give you license to act like a spoiled princess. Yes, tanking sucks and it has a lot of responsibility-which is why tanks are rarer and hard to get from DF, but that does not mean your job is any more important than the DPS or the healer. I swear, sometimes I DF with tanks who act like BRDs/RDMs did in FFXI: "I'm special and irreplaceable and if you don't do what I say, I'm leaving because you all waited 40min for me, but I can insta-queue at any time"

Tanks protect the party.
Healers sustain the party.
DPS progress the party.

Read the pledge, my friend. It's actually the exact opposite of the entitled attitude you're describing.

I will take a tank pledge the day DF DPS stop auto attacking their way through my ESO grind and when my DF healers stop throwing out a cure 2 and the going AFK... Summoning Eos and setting themselves to follow and really going AFK.

It sounds an awful lot like you're using the poor behavior of others to justify your own. Try it out for a few days and see what happens. The jerks won't go away, but if you go in expecting to compensate for poor behavior, and are polite and optimistic regardless of what happens, I'm willing to bet you'll have a better time.

I tank and I feel like a slave, never feel like a leader at all. I am there getting bullied, clawed, smashed, thrown, etc. etc.
When a mob hit a healer, healer will be like "get em off me, you dirty peasant tank"
When a mob hit dps, dps will be like "How dare you let these trash touch me, you slave tank"

As a tank, you are the de facto leader, because you literally lead the charge. And what most people don't seem to understand is that leading means serving. It is idealistic. It isn't for everyone. But when you do anything that puts you in any kind of leadership role, you are actually taking on a role of service. In essence? Yes, you are catering to them. If you communicate and apologize and do your best to fill the role, and take each challenge from the game head-on, you'll probably feel a lot less like a doormat, and a lot more like someone who's actually helping the group succeed.