
Originally Posted by
Ramsey
The issue with various "kinds" tanking is that it's incredibly difficult to balance them against varying encounters. In a vacuum, you can assign values to abilities, how much survivability they grant, damage they reduce, threat they generate.
In the field, there will always be an optimal tank for an encounter though. Your choices are then, require the raid to bring all types of tanks, and swap them out during different fights. In which case all tanks need to have an alternative role that's actually useful, or in FFXIV's case, you are implicating that players need to roll with multiple jobs in a raid, specifically tank players.
Neither is a particularly desirable solution.
You can also require they only bring one tank, and balance each encounter so that any tank can be proficient, but that one tank will excel at varying situations. What will happen in reality if you take this path, is that a guild/linkshell will use the tank class that gets them past whichever fight is the most difficult with the least amount of trouble. I.E. the final boss, or most difficult boss in the dungeon. So if Warrior excels at the most difficult fight, and they must choose one, they will bring a warrior, as they can make up for its lack of excellence more easily on the easier fights.
Path of least resistance.
We're programmed to take that path. Paladin is not particularly terrible as it stands, Warrior is just better in many situations. So Warrior is the default unless you're running with an open minded LS. No matter what route they take, there will always be the current king, whether due to the strength of their own abilities, or due to the types of enemies found in the content.