Why Tanking Tanked still

First off, i cannot come up with a better title. sorry. But this is the third part of my posts on why tanking, for me, has tanked and why i would love to DPS forever and ever and ever. much to the chagrin of a few of my friends who enjoyed insta-queues and solid tanking, i've decided to stop tanking for a while. at least until everyone stops thinking that a tank with 25k health sucks (because, believe it or not, thats how a lot of people judge tanks). i am guilty of judging tanks by their health sometimes. this is one of the few reasons that i've decided to stop tanking.


Many of the reasons why i like tanking are a double edged sword. the more modern term (as popularized by a song) is "it cuts both ways". and here is why i believe tanking sucks for me. the reasons will be similar to the previous post, but it will have its own little angle.

1. DPS. Regarding dps in a group, i know tanks "should" be at the bottom. but since everyone's geared to the teeth (actually, about 4.5k gs, and should be doing about 3-4k dps in heroics) due to the whole triumph emblems dropping out of the sky like rain, tanks doing 1k dps are having a difficult time holding aggro vs. a happy-go-lucky, trigger happy dps who's just there trying to pass the time. he wouldnt even target what the tank is targetting, in fact, i've come across a bunch of dps (mainly hunters) who would purposely target the mob the tank is not targeting in order to see if he can burn down the mob before it reaches him. actually, it might be pretty fun for the overgeared hunter. but for the tank, it causes headaches. and with the increase in dps and with no one having the sense to actually slow down a bit if they're constantly pulling aggro, even with Vigilence, Hand of Salvation and various taunts, tanking becomes less fun.

i use my taunts for certain situations, and this includes overzealous dps. but i dont want to use my taunts entirely for them. there are certain fights where i know i'll get an add or two and will save the taunt for that (or charge, or intercept, or hand of reckoning, or deathgrip), but i wouldnt be able to use it anymore if a dps were to keep pulling aggro from me.

also, tanking as a warrior or druid requires a few seconds of charge-up time where they need to be able to do their damage, build up rage and maintain their aggro lead. many dps find it necessary to skip this step and move forward.

with that said, i think that the main issue here is NOT that tanks need more threat modifiers or that they need more dps to keep up since higher dps means higher threat (although this is one of the ways to solve it). The solution here is to have the dps WAIT. but no one's going to wait when they're stupidly overgeared for heroics and want to get their frosties ASAP. no one. so something in the system is causing this and it is causing me, who's stuck at around 4.5k gs, with a certain amount of health and dps, to keep up with everyone who thinks they're running with a 6.0k gs geared tank. impossible.

2. Planning/Leading. My second point is planning and leading a small group. back in the days where the LFD required actual converstaion, i was given the opportunity to talk to many people before the group actually started. this helped my planning in that i would know the makeup of my group, as well, the skill of some of the players. this lead my to decide how i would want to pace myself, if i can just do the instance silently or if i would have to stop to give directions. my pulls would be almost always the same but the pace might change depending on the situation.

also, i was able to build relationships with other players and i ended up getting used to how they dps/heal/slacked. the LFD system will not allow me to do much of that, if any. i do not know who my group members are beforehand, nor do i get to choose them (although LFD does try to balance everything out. i mean EVERYTHING. at least one ranged, one melee. no double classes unless its a tank and dps with the same class. or unless someone drops. but you will almost never find the same class of people running togehter. ever. two rogues? never. two dks? never. two shamans? never. unless one is dps and the other heals.)

and everyone expects to "gogogogogogo". i get this in so many groups. once i had to let a dps die and a healer drop because i wouldnt pull without everyone ready. they yelled at me and called me the worse tank ever. im glad i dont need any re-affirmation of my abilities from people. i see the results for myself and know im doing a good job.


3. Situation Awareness. Having situation awareness means i see whats going on in most cases and need to react. if i react too slowly, people will die. if i react too fast, no one cares. im only doing my job. situation awareness, for me, is really a personal issue at best. so with that said, i do have to watch my baby when she's running around, watch people to make sure they're not being stupid, and watch the patrols and mobs and puddles and void zones and fires and other bad things to make sure i stay alive.

all this watching requires energy. and frankly, i've just about lost all my energy watching other people. it does take a lot out of me to watch the screen. although its fun, and im not saying i dont like it, it's just too much. its been draining on me, personally, for quite a while. and this is why i enjoy dps sooooo much. because i can put blinders on and follow the tank. often, i do find myself saving the clothie or healer. but i find that im slowly letting go of that reaction. dps all the way baby!! and this leads me to my next point...

4. Responsibility for the well-being of the group. im basically sick of this. it takes a lot to pull correctly, to make sure my melee doesnt stand too close to the next group, to make sure the pathers dont pick up the healers, to make sure everyone is on the right mob. then there's the blame game in the end where someone said something about another being a fail this or a fail that. and then i have to decide whether its better to just drop group or kick the offender.

in most groups, i get to be guide or leader and its only because i am the tank. so with that title, i would have to decide what to do in certain situations. its great to have all this responsibility, but i tire of it. i really do. its not because i dont want it. i live and thrive for things like this. tanking fits me well because i think it helps me fulfill some of these roles and help me do it in a gaming environment. but i do see that i am tiring of the people and their "stupid" who i group with moreso than the byproducts of tanking. after much rambling and typing away, i do believe i got it. eureka!! people stink.



To close, all of the points above require effort. and sorry, im fresh out of effort. its not rewarding effort anymore. its just a fact that the face of heroics have changed for the worse, through the makeup of the group, the mechanics in finding a group and finally to the people behind the groups themselves. as much as i want to believe bliz is trying its best to group people of similar gear and output (not just gaer, but OUTPUT matters), we'll never really get to a point where its guaranteed that a new tank will get matched up with new dps and heals. i experienced just the opposite last night when my group consisted of a 6k gs dps, two 4.5k dps and a brand new, 2.5k gs tank. i healed it and it was a blast. but the one high gs dps did have to slow up a little. when using LFD, there is really no way to help sustain the quality of the group, as the group is formed at "random". and i say that loosely. even still, we can expect people to be jerks and drop, afk, or yell googogoogogogogogog. finally, the people need to change their approach to heroics. please know that you're joining a random with different people who may have different interests and needs apart from you. some just want to see what its like and others are just trying to get their daily frosties. some are on their alts and others decided to find a group 15 minutes before dinner starts. all of these people need to remember that they are play with others and that their action do effect the mood and satisfaction of this game for other people.


and that is why i do not like to tank anymore.