Removing Tank Stance Argument

[Lyth]

I think most of the problems raised regarding removing tank stances can be answered by simply asking yourself if the same held true for Healers and Cleric Stance during the transition into Stormblood.

Theory: DPS stances exist to allow tanks to do acceptable damage during solo play.

This same point was raised during the Cleric Stance debates last expansion. The idea was that Cleric Stance was only meant for solo play, and that dps-focused healers had somehow taken advantage of that fact and twisted it outside of its original purpose.

And then they removed old Cleric Stance. Healers were suddenly no better and no worse at soloing content. It didn't really change the raiding dynamic either. People who wanted to push their dps still did. People who wanted to afk during raid between heals to brew more delicious coffee still did. Unsurprisingly, very little changed.

Theory: Defensive stances are designed to keep tank damage in check.

They don't. We all know this. In fact, if the i270 STR accessories fiasco from the start of this expansion has shown us anything, it's that it doesn't matter how high you tune the damage output in a fight. If you create the possibility of doing more dps by playing more aggressively, someone out there is going to figure out how to do it. It was glorious how fast they rushed to fix that issue when they saw us using the old accessories.

Devs: "What do you mean there's no STR on your accessories? What do you mean your accessories have no gear progression and that we've deliberately nerfed your damage output? We have no idea what you're talking about. Here, have some more enmity." <snicker>

Players: "Oh, okay, we'll just use the old i270 accs then."

Devs: "W-wait!"

If all the very best players are forced to use tank stance 100% of the time, the vast majority of tanks probably aren't clearing that fight. Anything less than that, and you'll see people dropping stance.

If you want to control tank dps, you adjust the gear such that your tank does less damage. You don't need stances to do that. If they hadn't messed up on the accessories, it probably would have happened during Stormblood. I suspect we'll see a more deliberate nerf this expansion. Old prejudices die hard, especially when they're held by people who don't properly understand or appreciate the art of tanking.

But let's apply that Cleric Stance idea again. Did old Cleric Stance keep healer dps in check? Did removing it suddenly remove their limiters such that they did exponentially more damage? I don't think it really made a difference, to be honest.

Theory: Tank stances and the idea of tanks doing less damage is a fundamental concept based on historical precedent, dating back to the very earliest times when the first tanks emerged from caves...

This is actually historically false. The concept of "tanking" comes from Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), which are the text-based predecessors of modern MMOs (played over telnet). Similar to their pen and paper predecessors, the power balance in these games was based on Warrior types being powerful at lower levels but weaker later on, while Mage types were weaker at lower levels but more powerful later on. They were also meant to be played ad-infintum, as once you hit max level you would just multi-class/remort back to level 1 to start learning all of your old job(s) abilities in addition to a new one (i.e. Warrior/Mage -> Warrior/Mage/Thief etc.)

When the concept of partying came up, later MUDs had your Warrior types learn abilities to Rescue/Intervention style abilities to allow them to temporarily take damage meant for a squishier party member at lower levels (think Cover). Your tank wasn't really designed to "do less damage". They were just a damage dealer which happened to have a utility move to let them save a teammate.

When the first MMOs came along, they expanded on the concept and developed the present trinity system (which in turn has influenced modern pen and paper games, coming full circle). But there's nothing intrinsic about making tanks do low damage. They do need to do less damage than pure damage dealers, because otherwise we'd just bring tanks and healers (we sometimes do that anyways). But tanks are still here to do damage.

Please teach me to be a pacifist with an oversized axe. My greatsword was clearly never meant to inflict mortal wounds. Tanks are still damage dealers, first and foremost. We just happen to be the only ones brave enough to hit from the front.

As far as stances are concerned, even if you look at Warcraft's Warrior (from which, to the best of my knowledge, concepts like defensive stances and the term "stance dancing" originate, you'll find that they too have moved away from the concept. Most implementations of stances are uninspiring and unnecessarily restricting to the player. It works well in some cases if it fits the flavour of the job (like a shape-shifting druid), but it's by no means an intrinsic or essential part of tanking.

I think from a newer player's perspective, the greatest fear regarding dropping tank stance isn't the loss of the defensive benefit. It's the loss of the enmity benefit. But you don't need a stance purely for enmity generation. All you need is a single cooldown on a short recast, that while active, multiplies your enmity generated by a set factor. Just keep it simple.

The main challenge in tanking isn't enmity generation, nor should it ever be. Most people aren't interested in hitting their dragons with foam bats while maximising their "aggros". It's about clever boss positioning and movement, fight knowledge, and mitigation. Streamlining tanking so that it places a greater emphasis on these elements would be a big step forward.

[Kabooa]

The main challenge in tanking isn't enmity generation, nor should it ever be. Most people aren't interested in hitting their dragons with foam bats while maximising their "aggros". It's about clever boss positioning and movement, fight knowledge, and mitigation. Streamlining tanking so that it places a greater emphasis on these elements would be a big step forward.

My main issue here is aside from boss positioning, which the boss does itself or has only one clear "correct" answer most of the time, you just described everyone else in the party too. What you describe is also the opposite of streamlining. Streamlining is auto positioning bosses, tightly scripted mechanics, uniform boss arenas, etc.

To have greater emphasis on these elements, you are removing the automation many of the bosses currently implement.

To make boss positioning more important, arenas must be less uniform, the boss must not re-position itself as much or ever, even if the current position would lead to an auto wipe scenario, and more mechanics would need to put more pressure on the amount of space left on the arena.

To make fight knowledge matter more, things need to be better telegraphed but less scripted. Stormblood encounters you can practically plan everything barring the few random target mechanics. This goes hand in hand with mitigation, making snap decision making more important because you might know what the boss can do, but you're not sure what its going to do next, as opposed to literal cooldown timelines you can just look up on google.