The reason we healers DPS

[CazzT]

So if you're not constantly healing, and you're not keeping the GCD rolling? I can only surmise that you're watching Netflix.

Yes, a healer is AFK if they're not either constantly healing or DPSing. Or you might as well be. Is it so much to ask that you contribute the bare minimum effort of remembering your ABC rule?

AFK = Away From Keyboard
It's clear you're just making stuff up at this point.

It is OK for someone to not do something with every GCD. As several have pointed out, anything short of EX/Savage isn't that big a deal. But people like yourself seem to think it's the end of the world if the Healer is not doing something with absolutely every single GCD. So which is it: non-EX/Savage is not a big deal or it's cutting edge and must be approached the same way EX/Savage content is? It can't be both.

[CazzT]

Well, if you're not healing, and you're not DPSing... what ARE you doing? Either your gear is awful so you need to constantly heal, you're DPSing, or you're just sitting around for the majority of the fight. That's just how it is in this game, even in hard content like Savage.

I rarely get to sit around for the majority of any fight. I'm usually healing. Either because the Tank is taking enough damage for me to cast heals/regens or because the DPS need to be healed. The only time I ever get to really slack off (and even then I don't) is in Alliance roulette, where there's several other healers. It's not an issue of gear (I've healed while under geared and over geared).

This assumption that a healer that isn't DPSing is lazy is why there's a growing animosity from healers to the rest of the community. It is OK to not DPS as a non-DPS class.

Like I said before, FFXIV is the only MMO where parts of the community get bent out of shape if the Healer doesn't DPS. It's really kinda sad that people are so mad about this.

[Legion88]

It is OK for someone to not do something with every GCD.

That for sure.
But what is it when unused GCDs are more than used GCDs?
Is this also OK or is it just lazy?
Where is the break point?
Also will you apply this rule to every role and job?
If not, why not?

[CazzT]

That for sure.
But what is it when unused GCDs are more than used GCDs?
Is this also OK or is it just lazy?
Where is the break point?
Also will you apply this rule to every role and job?

You're getting into min/max nitpicking that only matters in EX/Savage. In that content, every GCD matters. This goes back to what I just said: non-EX/Savage is not a big deal or it's cutting edge and must be approached the same way EX/Savage content is? It can't be both.

[Legion88]

You're getting into min/max nitpicking that only matters in EX/Savage. In that content, every GCD matters. This goes back to what I just said: non-EX/Savage is not a big deal or it's cutting edge and must be approached the same way EX/Savage content is? It can't be both.

That is not the answer to my questions and is in no point related to them.

I will ask you again, this time simplified: Are you okay with a player just using a skill every now and then?

[ForteNightshade]

SE has made it a point to be inclusive of all player levels and that’s a great thing. It just means that combined to choreographed encounters, healing downtime will always be a thing.

Which is fine, but if healer downtime remains how it's been in Stormblood, then the dev team needs to accept healers will be expected to DPS, especially in higher level content.

As for inclusivity. While all nice and good, there is a stark difference between being inclusive and coddling. SE does the latter by making everything extremely easy. This, in turn, gives no incentive for players to improve.

[EaMett]

All right, but should everyone else be punished because they can't handle it, or should there be more training opportunities for those who are slow and uncomfortable? Are you going to hold the entire class back when many understand the material to an adequate degree or are you going to give those that need help some extra help outside of class, perhaps give them a few extra practice assignments to help gain confidence?

It's really hard to know exactly why SE made the changes they made. There have only been a couple of things they've expressed in regards to healers. And that's that:
1) They don't like that healer optimization means aiming at freeing more offensive GCDs
2) They struggle to balance healers.

But we don't know anything else past that. is 1) a personal preference or is it an opinion based on some internal metric? Is 2) because they don't have the ressources, the tools, the knowledge, the experience? Is 2) in part because their design is flawed from the start, or their idea of what balanced healers are is misplaced?

Kinda hard to tell. We know they have little healer experience just from the fact they created something like lilies and the original PI. It's pretty obvious since any experienced healer could tell it was bad before even trying it out (and said so in forums). What is also obvious is that they're completely disconnected from their online healer community and have been for quite a few years. It's also a safe bet to say they don't have the proper tools or have a really restrictive concept of "balance" given how hard they're trying to homogenize healers.

But beyond that there's so much more that is unclear. Do they want the classes to play better or be more popular? If it's the later then maybe they'll get more new players into healers than old ones leaving? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Who knows.
And that also applies to:

As for inclusivity. While all nice and good, there is a stark difference between being inclusive and coddling. SE does the latter by making everything extremely easy. This, in turn, gives no incentive for players to improve.

Honestly, I've said this multiple times over the past 2 years. But SE's idea of balanced healers is just plain wrong and their idea to fix it even worse. Homogenization of healers for balance is going against 40 years of game design principles. AND them making that balance while lowering the skill ceiling and removing our risk/reward mechanisms is also in violation of basic game design principles. Especially when they could have accomplished the same without going to those lengths.
So All in all I have no clue what they were thinking.

The options we're left with are. They either don't know what they're doing, or there's some hidden agenda we aren't grasping. Maybe healer balance is costing them too much so they said "screw it, homogenize the shit out of them and give everyone trust healers to make up for lack of players". Money saved.

[Shurrikhan]

You're getting into min/max nitpicking that only matters in EX/Savage. In that content, every GCD matters. This goes back to what I just said: non-EX/Savage is not a big deal or it's cutting edge and must be approached the same way EX/Savage content is? It can't be both.

The exclusion of healer DPS, especially in casual content, is more analogous to a melee refusing to use their combos than to subtle aspects of optimization.

Being literally idle or actively wasting MP is no more forgivable for a Healer than for a Tank or DPS. It doesn't matter if it's casual, Savage, or anything in between.
If you wouldn't be okay with DPS neglecting their Abilities (toolkit), taking breaks mid fight (idle time), and/or standing in stuff (wasting healer MP and by extension, further time), why would possibly forgive what amounts to the same in healers alone? That is a massive double-standard.

There is no "ABC" rule. Perhaps that is your personal expectation and opinion but bottom line is what another player is doing (or not doing in this case) is not your call. It's not against any rule. It's not a violation of TOS. It's not harassment. It's unreportable.

Not in the ToA, true. But it is a bare minimum guideline for not being a jerk to your team. Not every rule you ought follow should be due solely to threat of punitive legal measures.

[Bahati]

So if you\\'re not constantly healing, and you\\'re not keeping the GCD rolling? I can only surmise that you\\'re watching Netflix.

Yes, a healer is AFK if they\\'re not either constantly healing or DPSing. Or you might as well be. Is it so much to ask that you contribute the bare minimum effort of remembering your ABC rule?

There is no "ABC" rule. Perhaps that is your personal expectation and opinion but bottom line is what another player is doing (or not doing in this case) is not your call. It's not against any rule. It's not a violation of TOS. It's not harassment. It's unreportable.

Watching Netflix is allowed, I hate to break it to you. A healer not maximizing DPS is not "wrong" in the opinion of those who actually make the rules and design content. How anyone thinks their personal player opinion matters more than SE is beyond me.

[Skivvy]

I rarely get to sit around for the majority of any fight. I'm usually healing. Either because the Tank is taking enough damage for me to cast heals/regens or because the DPS need to be healed. The only time I ever get to really slack off (and even then I don't) is in Alliance roulette, where there's several other healers. It's not an issue of gear (I've healed while under geared and over geared).

This assumption that a healer that isn't DPSing is lazy is why there's a growing animosity from healers to the rest of the community. It is OK to not DPS as a non-DPS class.

Like I said before, FFXIV is the only MMO where parts of the community get bent out of shape if the Healer doesn't DPS. It's really kinda sad that people are so mad about this.

Let me preface this by saying that I get that people may not be completely comfortable in the healing role, and typically the DPS output will be less when that is the case. I'm totally cool with that. I actually really like playing with newer players (most of the time at least ). But the important thing is that if someone is wanting to continue to play in the healing role, they really should work on pushing past that discomfort to where they are able to utilize the skills that we currently have in our toolkit - this includes DPS skills.

With that said, I strongly disagree with the sentiment of "it's OK to not DPS as a non-DPS class".

Healers do currently have a lot of healing-downtime in most content. If a healer is making the conscious decision to not DPS simply because they feel "a healer shouldn't have to DPS", I'm not sure if I'd call them lazy, but I'd definitely say they were bad at playing their job. Regardless of how other games have handled healers, or how we personally feel they should have been implemented, SE gave Healers many options for helping out on the DPS side.