Are FFXIV tanks just players who "couldn't hack it as a DPS"?

[zipzo]

Seen this claimed a few times about FFXIV tanking. What are your personal thoughts on the skill required to be a tank in FFXIV? Do you think it's more or less than other competing MMOs? What about past MMOs(or past expansions of other MMOs)?

[aleph_null]

Dunno man, from what I've seen most of the people complaining about how tanking is too easy since you can tank everything in dps stance haven't actually done that, heck some of them haven't even cleared the relevant contents.

[Kothos]

Are you? Because most of the times I do more DPS than dps

[Zojha]

When it comes to the difficulty of being a tank in FFXIV, I think it stands for itself that most tanks are not concerned about how to become a better tank, but rather how to become a better DPS.

[mosaicex]

Most DPS players couldn't hack it as DPS either, speaking as someone play as DPS, Tank, and occasionally healer.

When it comes to the difficulty of being a tank in FFXIV, I think it stands for itself that most tanks are not concerned about how to become a better tank, but rather how to become a better DPS.

You learn the fight mechanics, you learn when to appropriately pop defensive cds, you kill the boss. All that is left is to push out as much as dps as possible.

Can you tell me what did you mean by 'better tank'?

[zipzo]

Are you? Because most of the times I do more DPS than dps

No need to get defensive, I'm just curious.

[Atreides]

When it comes to the difficulty of being a tank in FFXIV, I think it stands for itself that most tanks are not concerned about how to become a better tank, but rather how to become a better DPS.

Same with healers though, this game is all about DPS. Moreso than any other.

The ideal situation is if they don't need to heal at all and can reduce the healing to only off global cds.

You can't blame either though because this is how this game is pretty much designed, even though it's not as tight with the DPS check as it was in Gordias for example it is still pretty tight in harder content so the mentality to DPS sticks to you at some point.
Unless they force tanks in tank stance and reduce healers damage output outside of solo content drasticly this won't change.

[MistakeNot]

Seen this claimed a few times about FFXIV tanking. What are your personal thoughts on the skill required to be a tank in FFXIV? Do you think it's more or less than other competing MMOs? What about past MMOs(or past expansions of other MMOs)?

Tanking is neither easier nor more difficult than being a DPS (or healer). In both cases it is not all that difficult to do an "okay" job, while performing at the top requires considerable skill. This is no different in FFXIV compared to most other MMOs.

Difference is that when a tank performs badly or makes a mistake it is immediately obvious to everyone else in the party. When a DPS performs badly, usually nobody notices.

[Zojha]

You can't blame either though because this is how this game is pretty much designed, [...]

That is the point. The way the game is designed, tanking and healing as such are largely trivial, which means most of the time, you have nothing left to improve on other than DPS. To a degree, that's innate to the roles themselves, due to them being artificial and thus fixed in usefulness, but FFXIV takes it up to eleven by overpowering both out the wazoo.

As a result, being a tank/healer is easy, very easy in fact - the hard part comes when you're trying to be a DPS as well. That part is as hard as mastering any other DPS. Tanking and healing as such? Yeah no.

[kashi11]

Nah, people who DPS are either too lazy to heal or too scared to tank ������. Jokes aside, I almost feel Tanks and Healers have the more difficult roles to be honest. When queuing with a PUG group, a DPS can just do what they always do, and optimal play of class is unaffected. Healers rely on their tanks performance, and gear level, as well as the DPS dodging mechanics, thus it's a different experience everytime. Same with tanks, need to know how good healers gear is, how well they are at managing MP and CDs, are DPS using diversion, is the ninja using shirk? All of these things affect the way you play.