Quote Originally Posted by Mikey_R View Post
I skimmed most of the post, however, I want to start here.

We do not know what MT and OT means in terms of FF14. However, what we do know, from their general thought process is that every tank can handle tank a bosses hits. Just because you have 2 OTs in a normal raid, does not mean it is suddenly going to be unclearable.

Since we do not know what MT and OT means in terms of FFXIV, except the one slide, it also does not mean we can come to any conclusions with any certainty about what the kit of an OT looks like. We can look at what Paladin has and notice it still has a lot of party support. We need to see an OT kit and compare it.

The question is then, if they had called these things something else, would you still have this same reaction, or, is this reaction purely based on your own pre-conceived notion of what it means to be an MT or OT?
I understand that we do not know the full kits yet, and I am not saying OT jobs will be unable to tank or that content will become unclearable.

But this concern is not only based on my personal assumption of what MT/OT means.

This was actually mentioned in the keynote/presentation: the Main Tank side was described as being more specialized in taking damage / defensive play, while the Off Tank side was described more around damage mitigation and party support.

That distinction is exactly what worries me.

Even if every tank can technically still tank, designing one group around “taking the boss’s hits” and another around “supporting through mitigation” creates a restrictive dynamic. It can make one group feel like the actual tank and the other like a support tank.

My point is that tank identity should not come from separating tanks into “the one that tanks” and “the one that supports the tank.” I would rather see tanks differentiated by how they personally respond to different types of incoming danger, while still keeping every tank feeling like a full tank.