Why Don’t You Tank Poll

[Lilseph]

but tanks only seem like a rarer role because career tanks usually only queued with friends?

This is mostly true. Either bad DPS or bad healer makes the tank role annoying to play in pugs.

I've been playing as a tank bot since 2.0. It's not stressful on my end, but annoying to play when the DPS takes forever to nuke the trash or the healer is idling behind. My complaint is more about the DPS, though. When I play healer, I DO! call the tank out if I notice they aren't using cds. However, I'll assume the responsability if I, for wahtever reason, caused the wipe.

[Alaray]

Long time ago anxiety kept me from tanking.

Lately I've just not been giving a crap and doing what I want, and it's pretty fun -- the animations, effects are nice and it's kinda fun to be the person fighting everything at once.

DPS I find a lot more boring than tank, but a lot less stress and a lot less care to be had in general. Pretty easy to kinda just do your rotation and move out of AoE's without worrying about much else, tbh. Big numbers are kinda fun, too.

[Sunako]

I think it is bit boring and I m not interested farming gil either and tanks bis is pentamelded crafting gear.

[Saiah]

Tanking can be a thankless job. (pun)

Dont pull enough, and you risk getting yelled at. I had to report 2 DPS for verbal abuse and an illicit kick even though the healer was on my side. The only person who has any say in this matter imo.

Pull too much, and you risk getting yelled at and/or cause a wipe.

The worst part is that this happens on the same day a patch is released. Taking it slow and steady on a first time to get a feel of the mobs and what theyre capable of before planning to see wich pulls you can combine (and god forbid, actually enjoying the new dungeons atmosphere) is a thing of the past. A DPS will decide this for you because they seem to have a plane to catch.

[Iscah]

I would say too stressful, but I'm a healer main. So perhaps it's just a different kind of stress?

Healing is definitely a different stress to tanking. You’re reacting to situations and supporting the group, but don’t have to set the pace, not get lost, watch out for enemies that you missed and are now attacking your team members... (that bit would be much easier if they automatically appeared in your enemy list when they attacked anyone in the party!)

I got Paladin to Lv50 with the intent of “being helpful and using it for roulettes” but now I’m a bit scared to use it because I’m not experienced with the high-level dungeons yet.

It’s also inherently stressful because I worry that I’m going too slow, or “not doing it right”. I don’t like being the group leader. I feel much more comfortable just following the party through the dungeon instead of having to find my way (and stop to check the map) when people are waiting for me.

[ElazulHP]

I do tank occassionaly, but I do agree it's stressful. The only reason it's stressful though is because of other people. Toxic players who will bitch about every little mistake can completely ruin it for people. Hence people who don't want to deal with idiots will just completely avoid the role.

[Sandpark]

Because:
Tanks are made of adamantite but hit with sticks.
Healers are made of jelly but hit with twigs.
DPS are made of wood but hit with Atomic Bombs.

Also tanks do it from the front and receive. I like to hit it from the back or side and give.

[Tempest222]

I find the idea of basically being the leader/pace setter really stressful. And honestly I know this sounds absurdly stupid, but I feel like I would get lost in dungeons and go the wrong way or do unnecessary pulls. Plus it seems like it would be a lot to keep track of with bosses. Like the tank really needs to be pro at all mechanics and know when tank busters are coming, and basically know every fight like the back of their hand etc. Plus in some 8 man content when you need to tank swaps, yeah guaranteed I would spazz on that and panic and not be able to hit the right buttons. It just wouldn’t be right to force innocents to withstand that much stupid.

[JunseiKei]

I don't tank because I'm a complete hypocrite to the role: I want large pulls, but when I'm tanking, I'm completely scared to. Mostly because I've run into healers that just let me die, even though I pop my cooldowns staggered, never overlapping. That applies to dungeons, though. For other content, it seems like the tank has to know everything ahead of time and have it down even before anyone else has begun to start to learn. That horrifies me as someone who can hardly learn from reading a wall of text or watching a video. It won't stick, but doing the motion correctly the first time will stick immediately. Tanks are usually the leaders of a group, too. They set the pace, how smoothly a run can go, et cetra. Some of us just aren't very confident in such a position.

<_< That's why I heal. I let the tank lead, but I ultimately have their fate in my hand. *Slightly ominous chuckle.*

Also, trigger happy DPS just get on my nerves, and so do healers that like to throw regens up just as I get to a group and force me to chase their butt down as they run away from me. The role is stressful enough, but when it's compounded with incompetence, it's really more than I can handle patience-wise.

[MaloraYuki]

I wouldn’t say I don’t tank because I find it boring or too stressful, I just prefer to do other jobs over tanking. And, when tanking I get to picky with healers, a lot of other healers scare me so I run healer a majority of the time. I do enjoy tanking every once in a while but it’s short lived.