do people hate tanking?

[KoroushSensei]

when i am in a dungeon and our tank decides to leave or dc it takes a long time for another one to appear

[Canadane]

It's not so much people hate it. It's that they hate being in the lead, especially with strangers.
It could be they're too timid, or it could be that they're so great they don't want to trust a random group of strangers to keep up with them.

Even I main a tank, but if I'm using DF I'll probably be queuing as a healer. Since I know I won't slow down a faster paced tank.

[Aryalandi]

It's not so much people hate it. It's that they hate being in the lead, especially with strangers.
It could be they're too timid

This, this is more or less my problem with tanking even though it is one of the main jobs that I play, I feel incredibly timid and nervous about the concept of being in the lead during dungeons, especially if I have never been to a dungeon before. I worry that I won't do a good job, or that I will slow more experienced players down, also tanks are kind of expected to be in front of everyone leading the way through the dungeon, I worry about getting lost even though that is silly lol..

It isn't so much that people hate tanking, its that as a tank like with healer you are taking up the added responsibility of keeping your party alive and that can be a very intimidating concept. That is why there are so many dps characters compared to tanks and healers, all dps really has to think of is themselves and the order that they need to kill things in. For duty finder I usually go drg when I can, then I use Paladin for solo instances and storyline. Even though I have been told before that I tank well it's much harder for me to be in a party as a tank than it is as a dps because I am a perfectionist with myself.

"Am I going too fast?"
"Am I going too slow?"
"Am I pulling too much?"
"Am I pulling too little?"
"Am I going the right way?"
"Am I keeping everything focused on me well enough?"
"Did I memorize the mechanics well enough to keep this boss from hurting my party?"

Generally those questions are going through my head from the start of a dungeon to the end of the dungeon, I have never had a party melt down half way through a dungeon which is a good sign but it is still always nerve-racking for me personally.

On a side note.. because I noticed some of "that" going on... one thing that I have never worried about even once because it isn't my job is..

"Am I doing enough damage?" Former strength tanks must have it even worse I would imagine because they put the extra unrequired burden of high dps on themselves when that was never once the job they were supposed to be doing. I'm sorry to prod anyone but strength tanking doesn't make you better, it means that you aren't playing the class as intended and means that you are a subpar tank playing at being a subpar dps x.x;; and I feel soooo mean for saying that but.. yeah.. you are a less powerful less squishy dps who has more of the healers attention than the actual dps get because you are wearing a tank disguise. I am so thankful that it was fixed.

[Aaliyahrose]

I don't mind spamming DF as a tank until I cap on Lore. I used to HATE tanking with a passion in 1.0/early 2.0, and MNK/WHM were my go to jobs. I used to hate tanking for the reasons of:

1. I don't like getting hit, and whenever I do, it's the mentality that I just did something wrong.

2. It changes the way you have to play, keeping the boss facing away from the group and he is always following you to spots where you and the party should be standing for mechanics...like...how scary does that sound when you are taking first time?

3. The armor and bulk seems unappealing for some characters...especially the helmets.

[Averax]

It's not so much people hate it. It's that they hate being in the lead, especially with strangers.
It could be they're too timid---

Hit the nail on the head. Tanking makes me so uncomfortable, and it doesn't help that my first tanking experiences were in WoW where they seriously treat tanks like human garbage, and where you have to race the dps to each pull because they don't think they need you or the healer (until they die, and that's where the obscenities come in).

I used to be a dps only kind of person, until i tried healing and learned that i am pretty damn good at it, and it's a lot more fun than mindlessly slapping something until it dies. I'd try tanking if there was less pressure on the role, but there's little that can be done about that.

[WinterLuna]

Compared to DPS and healers, there aren't a lot of tanks in the game. This could be because people just don't like tanking, because of the responsibility that comes with being a tank, or simply because they don't like the tank classes. I personally don't mind tanking but I'd definitely rather heal or DPS so I'd never queue as a tank unless a friend needed me to or I was extremely bored.

[eldemarco]

Most people just don't want the responsibility of being the leader of the group.

Also most people just want to kill things mindlessly.

[heynowjose]

I wouldn't say ppl hate it. Its just a lot harder than the other roles. Don't get me wrong there's gonna be like 5 posts after this one going "its not hard if you know what you're doing blah blah"

But the point is that tanks have to think and actually know their roles. Otherwise dungeons go to hell. Healers have it easy and DPS have it easiest. If a DPs sucks all that happens is the dungeon goes slowly. If a tank syckd you're done for

[Sailysium]

I wouldn't say ppl hate it. Its just a lot harder than the other roles. Don't get me wrong there's gonna be like 5 posts after this one going "its not hard if you know what you're doing blah blah"

But the point is that tanks have to think and actually know their roles. Otherwise dungeons go to hell. Healers have it easy and DPS have it easiest. If a DPs sucks all that happens is the dungeon goes slowly. If a tank syckd you're done for

While most agree with you, I'd refrain from saying it's harder as opposed to just higher responsibility placed when picking up tanking.

[Laerune]

While most agree with you, I'd refrain from saying it's harder as opposed to just higher responsibility placed when picking up tanking.

I have to agree with this quote. As someone that is playing all 3 roles, I can say that Tanking is not harder, its the responsibility that scares players away from this role.