Why do you tank ?

[Amerith]

I just love having a boss's full attention it kind of feels like a 1v1 duel to the death (the new duty boss themes make it even more thrilling maybe im weird... i dont know and i dont care lol)...and ill be honest sometimes i get so blinded with my "1v1" duels i forget the dps and healer are there too XD. And i really dont enjoy the dps play style of stabbing/shooting something in the back hoping it doesn't turn around and rip your face off. OH yeah i also love that feeling when you know a dps player is in a really long que and you're like "hey...want me to tank for you so you can get in?" and they are usually like "OMG YES THANK YOU SO MUCH" so that's always nice. ^^
Masochists for life not gona let some changes stop me from enjoying myself!

[NatSilverguard]

So, I take a role with lots of responsibility so that I don't give that responsibility to a Hufflepuff and watch us all burn.

What is this blasphemous statement you're spouting my good sir?!

I have you know that Hufflepuff is the most dedicated and hard worker among the 4 houses.

So, FU and have a nice day!

[LegolasT]

Cause I don't complain about changes and master my job no matter what! It's getting annoying to here people complain about what was tanking then now. Tanking is still to me extremely fun rewarding and fun to learn. I main dark knight and I love it started playing in January of 2017 and now my static lead tank! I don't complain about changes I do what I do and master the changes and that's what REAL tanks do stop.

[AlexSag]

I've considered myself a Paladin since Final Fantasy II (IV), dropped when I was 12, so I'd likely play the job regardless of its role. That being said, I like tanking in this game for a few reasons.

1. I love taking the big hits. I may be the only person in this game who cares more about his max HP than his max crit, but I love having enough HP to be able to sneeze off a tank buster

2. I like the many versus one aspect of the group pull. Those really big pulls when it's like 12 mobs and I'm constantly blocking or parrying feels awesome.

3. I like setting the pace. I love being the person who decides how fast things are going to go. When I'm dpsing and the tank is going slowly, I get really frustrated. I'd rather go fast, even if it is a bit dangerous

Also, insta-queues. You can't argue with insta-queues.

[Age_of_Oblivion]

I like to MC the mosh pit and shout insults at strays.

[Derio]

Because fast queues. The lore of all my characters I create in MMOs and rpgs.

[Baalzebulzak]

I started out as a WAR because I wanted to bludgeon things to death with massive blunt objects. But there's no hammer class in FFXIV, so axes were the next best thing.

But now that DRKs get a greatclub from PVP, I'll be switching to that once I get it to 70.

Now that I have PLD leveled to 70 I have to say... Uhm... Yeeeeah... I mean, having amazing DPS, mitigation, and utility is nice, but I still feel like it's the worst tank of the 3. The reason being is that I still can't glamour my sword into a frying pan, and as someone who started out in 2.4, it's just really upsetting to see that problem still being ignored as of 4.0. At least invisible shield glamour's a step in the right direction.

[RiisWolf]

There's so many bad tanks either by complete ineptitude or being less than decent, I have to go out there and be the good tank.

Too bad there's a bad healer to ruin everything, in which case I'll have to go be the good healer too. Great now I gotta be the better heal simply by doing my job with esuna at hand.

Too bad runs are a slog because DPS still don't learn a thing, made Nidhogg needlessly difficult, and continue to fumble about - OMG power up then attack, and how is it that even the hardcore raider is so babied by a single enemy in raids that they STILL fear the very concept of using AoEs and using resources to your advantage. Heaven forbid if the bard sings. Makes me want to do even that myself.

Which is why I like WAR and PLD the most. WAR for the things DPS refuse to do as I tank. PLD to hold healers' hands, otherwise to make to reduce damage to as little as possible, directly taking the hits intended to other players, tempered will, and reducing the damage others take.

[Mikazuki_Aura]

Because some tanks will not use defensive cooldowns when I heal.
Because some tanks will not use Flash or Overpower when I DPS. I ended up tanking Hullbreaker Isle in a NIN before because the tank went AFK, and even when he came back he would lose aggro to me if I attacked his target, and I had to attack other targets because the healer had aggro otherwise.
Because some tanks stare at mobs for 3 minutes before attacking. I had a severe case once where the tank took the time to use the /bow emote at mobs before starting fights. 3 mobs at a time. Every time.
Because as a tank you're viewed as the leader of a party, which means that when giving new players instructions, they listen to you. They're not as receptive to advice when I'm in BRD mode. Possibly because a ragequitting tank will cause a permanent queue stall.
Because when new players who ignore the instructions die, you can usually solo a boss to death. This is generally why I still prefer WAR to PLD, since the selfheal isn't quite as potent in PLD.
Because I play every class anyway.
Because tanks have additional rewards from roulettes.
Because female heavy armour in this game isn't a bikini. The medium armour... sigh.

We do what we must because we can.

[ExLegen]

Queues are a complete mess. SE was not happy with only adding DPS classes in the expansion, they also tweaked A LOT the tanks, and aside from plds, tanks arent very happy with it. Also, on top of it, they changed the power scaling back to str only, and locked tanks out of str acessories.

What could go wrong right? right???