Patience as a Tank

[Enkonda]

Well...now that I tank........I understand all the frustrations, issues, etc...
I'm sorry if I ever yelled at a tank for yelling at another player....'cause oh my lord...I'm just so sorry. I completely understand why almost every
tank has gotten to the point of yelling at someone.
When trying to explain something to someone, they say "okay, got it" then immediately get pummeled by it, I say "okay, that's alright, we know
what it does now so let's prepare for that next time..."
and then said person gets hit AGAIN by the same mechanic, it gets old after awhile.

And when you're farming for something, my patience gets 100% to 10% in seconds. So....shout out to tanks who
have the best patience in the world.
I understand your woes now.

[Obysuca]

When trying to explain something to someone, they say "okay, got it" then immediately get pummeled by it, I say "okay, that's alright, we know
what it does now so let's prepare for that next time..."
and then said person gets hit AGAIN by the same mechanic, it gets old after awhile.

This is why I quit tanking a few months into 2.0. Hit 50 pld the first week of release, then got stuck on titan hm for relic because all the people who just couldn't dodge no matter how well you explained it or how much they said they got it :/ Not to mention the dps who go balls deep before you even hit something

[GeekMatt]

It's not the tanks responsibility to explain mechanics, so I'm not sure I understand why that would impact a tank more than anyone else?

What I found to try patience for tanks was how impossible it is to please your party. Pull too many and people complain, don't pull enough and people complain. Move too fast, complaints, move too slow, more complaints. I've even seen healers complain about how a tank used his skills, when the healers advise was completely wrong, I feel like no role quite puts you under a microscope of personal opinions like tank.

[Kitfox]

It's not the tanks responsibility to explain mechanics, so I'm not sure I understand why that would impact a tank more than anyone else?

I think it's more the fact that when you're tanking the boss there are fights where you can't help the party with mechanics. That means just standing there tanking and watching a horror scene unfold behind the boss without being able to do anything about it.

[MagiusNecros]

Ever tank Odin before? Could tell you horror stories for days.

[FallenWings]

I think you should respect the healers more than anything. They're the ones having to actually fix everyone's stupid. Tanking is a drop in the ocean of Healer woes.

[Enkonda]

That means just standing there tanking and watching a horror scene unfold behind the boss without being able to do anything about it.

That's mostly my problem. If I'm a dps, I can at least try and help out with everyone else or at least attempt to carry any dps that aren't able perform above average. But as a tank, nope...I just gotta sit there watching everyone else around me meet their doom while I'm just sipping tea 'cause we literally went over that mechanic twenty times and now it's just become too tedious so I just start staring at life bars slowly go from full health to 500 in a matter of seconds. Of course, as a tank, I've also encountered the fool who thinks they can tank and then haphazardly charges into the boss fight and then decides it be best to tank the boss in front of everyone instead of turning the boss around 'cause we all like being cleaved by the boss's attacks.

Have I tanked Odin yet? It's not a lack of confidence that deters me from tanking that instance, but the fact that DF is full of (innocently) new players and that I just couldn't be bothered by death by repetition. I have horror stories just from being a dps and a healer, no need to add tank to the list. I use to main WHM so I do have a large amount of respect for healers as well as dps. We all have jobs to do and on top of mechanics, it can all get tiresome and some people just don't have the reflexes or latency to dodge and I can forgive that.

[Jim_Berry]

I think it's more the fact that when you're tanking the boss there are fights where you can't help the party with mechanics. That means just standing there tanking and watching a horror scene unfold behind the boss without being able to do anything about it.

That part always makes me sad, because if I try to help, it will mean cleaving the party

[Lyth]

It's a bad idea to go into a support class thinking that its your job to fix other people's mistakes. One, you can't. Two, it's frustrating for you, because you'll take every mistake that happens as something that you personally have to deal with, instead of letting each person deal with it on their own. Third, it's frustrating for everyone else, because "fixing" other people's mistakes is the fastest way to start thinking that you're better than everyone else.

This is a particularly easy trap to fall into if you're playing a role which requires a lot of situational awareness but where your own mistakes generally aren't as blatantly visible/obvious to the raid as a whole. Healers who can take everything in stride are seriously worth their weight in gil.

Tanking, healing, and to an extent, ranged support classes, are about facilitating and enhancing other players' performances. It's a different mindset from a pure dps. You're not trying to be the best. You're trying to bring out the best.

[Khalithar]

I think it's more the fact that when you're tanking the boss there are fights where you can't help the party with mechanics. That means just standing there tanking and watching a horror scene unfold behind the boss without being able to do anything about it.

This is true way more often than it should be. @_@