People need to get real about Duty Finder queues.

[CookieMonsta]

A lot of people seem to be forgetting... DRK did drastically shorten leveling queues for a good while when it came out. I don't expect it to change much endgame but well, have fun with those really, really long leveling queues for while after the expac release... really hope you like FATEs.

(And, yes, there are plenty that only play DRK because they don't like the other tank jobs. So it does bring in new people long term...)

except it didn't at the same time. My chances of actually clearing a dungeon vastly dropped because of the complexity of DRK (and the legions of terrible part time tank players). So yes while the queues were faster, I probably spent more time overall because of the repeated wipes due to people having not yet figured out how to DRK (or tanking for that matter). Hell, it was during that period of time where I saw the first vote abandon at the last boss of Fractal that I have never seen again since lol.

[Kazrah]

I believe what makes it particularly more difficult for tanks and healers is having to juggle maximum dps output with role responsibilities.

It's not that they necessarily have to for the vast majority of fights, but between the level of convenience added by the damage increase in group content and certain content designed to require that extra damage provided from tanks and healers (mainly looking at Gordias) that the collective mentality within the culture of the community pressures healers and tanks to push their maximum possible damage output in addition to serving their primary group function to the fullest possible extent.

What's more important is a means of remedying this circumstance, and this can be done on two levels. The first is the community level, which requires a general understanding across the playerbase that essential roles (a.k.a. tanks and healers) are not just "dps that do other things"; a mindset which can be further aided on the development level in creating content that focuses less on dps checks and more on mechanical competency.

[Hunky]

snip

I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree with you 100%.

The convenience of high dps, along with dps checks, has created this mentality. I think if more fights that focused on mechanics rather than dps checks, we could get over this mindset that healers and tanks are just dps that do other things.

[Aniond]

I stopped tanking when tanking became more about dealing DPS then holding aggro. If I am going to focus on DPS then Im not going to tank. Same with healing.. Either I heal or I DPS not both.

[dragonseth07]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree with you 100%.

The convenience of high dps, along with dps checks, has created this mentality. I think if more fights that focused on mechanics rather than dps checks, we could get over this mindset that healers and tanks are just dps that do other things.

The mentality comes from the fact that there's no good reason not to optimize everything in this game. You should do everything you do to the best of your ability. And since everyone does damage...

Follow me for a sec, let's look at Royal Authority. You sacrifice the enmity from RoH for a lot more damage. Why would a tank ever want this? Because enmity doesn't help past the necessary amount. If I have a 50,000 enmity lead because all I use is RoH, I could stop attacking for a LONG while and not lose hate. Using RoH at this point is wasteful. It's suboptimal. RA is a better use of cooldowns, because it helps the group more.

It's the same with healing and DPS. Wasting time and MP from overhealing is suboptimal. Not using a GCD is suboptimal. So, it's clear what you should do.

[Kosmos992k]

People need to get real? How's this, adding 2 DDs will make tank and healer Q times awesome. Although it remains to be seen how many career tank and healer players continue to use duty finder. Then we also have the problems of prima-donnas in tank or healer gear, and also pretend ones only interested in quick Qs... I wish there was a better reputation system so that the prima-donna tanks and healers could be weeded out...

[Hunky]

snip

I agree with you. I know that, even though dpsing is not my main job, I would still dps because I know it would help my teammates out tremendously.

The thing is that it gets to the point where people are being discouraged to play tanks or healers because they aren't pushing out enough dps. When people start pulling for tanks because they want to get done with the dungeon faster, or they pressure tanks to drop tank stance, that's what discourages people from wanting to play these roles. And I think this is why most people shy away from playing tank/healer.

We should encourage people to play optimally, but this has also caused tanking and healing to become more stressful than ever. The reason why maximum dps output from tanks and healers is optimal is because of the current nature of content.

What Kazrah mentioned was a possible solution to make playing tank/healer less stressful, and in turn encourage more people to play tank/healer.

[Altena]

Not sure what you are queueing for there, but sometimes it's just flat out faster to level a Tank yourself and do whatever duty it is on Tank. There is a multi-armory system in place afterall. You may not want to queue as a Tank or play content as a Tank through DF but unfortunately due to the sheer number of DPS players in this game (and most MMOs as DPS are generally the favoured role).

I main a Tank, but enjoy switching jobs often, and every 2nd patch I end up maining a DPS, however I always have a Tank in cases where I need to get something done and queues are just too long.

You may only enjoy playing a DPS class, but the realism of it is so does the rest of the community - and there are less tank players in this game than DPS. The queue times in your OP are few and far between. Most "worst case" queues are 20-30 mins for lvl 50+ content.

As for levelling dungeons / end game dungeons, I think this game could absolutely use an adjustment in default party setup to something more like 1 tank / 1 healer / 3 or 4 dps. This would presumably lighten the queue times for dungeons at least - however there isn't much you can do about 8-man content aside from queueing as a Tank.

[Xlantaa]

I don't agree. Will be SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - RDM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM -SAM - SAM - SAM - and a DRK

[SenorPatty]

Adding new tank classes help in the short term. Aesthetics of a new class can appeal even those who like their comfort zone. The problem is what happens after the novelty factor wears off. I expect SAM to actually get the adventurer in need bonus to change for another role for a while.