For the love of swtor - fix lack of TANKS

True, I've often been the priority target over healers because they know that getting rid of me means no taunts, no CCs and pure damage on the target.

Problem I have is that it's too easy to focus fire a tank with the right skills to bring them down in a heartbeat.

I'd say this is a fairly homogenous issue across servers - Jedi Covenant suffers from it as well.

My guild has dozens of tanks, but noone wants to stomach the rampant abuse lfg pugs dish out - we only tank for premades. For that matter, I don't expose my healers or dps to pug groups either anymore.

It wasn't always this way; it's a learned behavior.

I guess I've been lucky thus far. I just started playing the game last Friday and I liked the story enough to sub over the weekend. I have a Guardian (lvl 14) and I actually had a FP group where they helped walk me through the basics of tanking in this game. I like to play tanks in any MMO/RPG I play, but each game has differences as to how tanks work as I'm sure you guys know.

The one FP I've ran thus far was a lot of fun due to getting some cool people in a PUG. I know the odds of that happening are slim, but I'm glad I lucked up.

I'll no doubt make mistakes as I continue to level up, and I have no doubt that some players will give me crap for my lack of experience with this game...but some people just seem to forget that everyone begins as a noob and learns how to do what they do.

I have other characters that aren't tanks that I've created and played a little bit, and those instances are when I'm glad that I primarily play a tank; it helps me to remember to be thankful that the tank is trying to help keep me alive.

So to all the other tanks out there in the SWTOR universe regarding what they do:

Tanks.

I now have three tanks and it is my favorite way to play. As has been said, the problem is burnout on abusive PUG groups. When I had just started tanking, many people would be be rude because i did not know something already. Now that I am very experienced, I get sick and tired of getting grief for their bad play style. The tank is always the focus of peoples blame for wipes.

It is not lack of players that role tanks, it is lack of basic gaming politeness that drives he tanks to only play with guildies. When I do get the urge to PUG and get some halfwit DPS i give them one warning. Second offense is Vote Kick with the message "idiot DPS or me". If no one else votes boot, I bail. People in PUG's need to learn that being an ****** has consequences.

I've had similar experiences with sub-50 flashpoints as well. It's the aim of the storymode flashpoints to allow for training time and the honing of skills and more often than not, it works well.

It's the hardmodes @ level 50 where you get the impatient Battemaster donned Maras who start drawing mobs before everyone is ready that makes for a stressful run on the tank & healer. And if you even dare try to point out what they are doing is wrong, they snipe at you in chat. Life's too short to put up with that behavior. Especially when one can run with a group of guildies.

I have a question does the taunt abilities work in PVP? If I use my taunt in PVP are the players I taunt prevented from targeting anyone else for a short time? Would I as a tank be able to save my healer by using a taunt and preventing people from beating on him? Then said healer keeps me alive while the dps on my team kill the attackers? Wouldn't that then make the tank or healer the focal point?

I haven't pvpd much and when I did it was as a trooper dps.

I wouldn't mind tanks getting a AOE Taunt that has an effect that is incurable non removable that lasts for 30 seconds has 1 minute cooldown. I would also not allow more then 4 dps 2 healers and 2 tanks per 8 man team.

Having matches that are all healers or dps or tanks is no fun. If a team has no healer then there should be a regen buff on all members or something to help out. The game needs to make sure each team is some how balanced.

I used to tank a lot with my shadow I enjoyed it a lot. PVE only and at the time EC 16 man Hard mode was the hardest OP. There was such a small margin for error. I liked that but some of the mechanics were just not logical.
For instance firebrand and storm caller for me was the most difficult encounter. Why a single tank and 2 healers cant keep agro and soak any damage the 2 tanks throw out drives me nuts. having to let 2 other people run in front of me to get double destruction drove me nuts. I as a tank should be able to mitigate that damage with proper use of abilities and good healing.

On the other hand I think the Toth and Zorn Fight is done very well. the last fight is good too. I just don't like all the chaos.

Tanking is fun but in SWTOR a tank really isn't a pure meat shield like the Warrior class was in Everquest.
I liked how when I tanked in EQ as long as I had the right gear on for resistances and such I could survive almost every fight as long as agro and healing was managed correctly. However in those days we would have at least 2 main tanks and 3 or 4 backups who could switch gear mid fight if need be to take over if I was to fall. We also had healers stand back out of range to resurrect the fallen if need be.
Different animal here.
I miss those days wish I had the time to spend on a game like that again...

You are so incredibly wrong here, I'm laughing a LOT. Tanks are extremely necessary and useful in "Rated Battle Grounds" as flag carriers and holding nodes. If you actually played at a level above 2200 in WoW for example you would know this to be true.

Furthermore, if you are spending that much time in the que, then I suggest you spend some time doing things with your guild. You know, it's an MMO and all.

Buuut, buuut, no one is ever on in my guild, no one wants to do fp hm's and blah blah blah... Well, then I suggest that you find either a group of players who play the same hours that you do and want to do that or find a new guild.

BioWare does not need to make tanks any more of a special snow flake than they already are as there are plenty of viable options for you to use if you feel it's taking to long to pug.

AFAIK the Taunts do work in PvP the same way as in PvE. They 'lock' their target to you for the duration. That duration is fairly short of course, but every bit helps.

If I am in a PUG I tend to ignore any hate I get from a DPS that seems to be clueless on how to back off a bit on his/her output. But I do have thicker skin than most. I know the FP and know what I can and can not do. If it is a FP I have never run or do not feel 100% on I do let the group know at the start. Any ************ get a /ignore in the end and since DPSers are dime a dozen I really do not fear cutting my pool of DPSers down by 1 or 2 a week.

So what if I am?

Dear paintcheck, please re-roll. The Guardian/Jugg tank is the hardest of all the tanks to hold threat with. If you still wish to tank , roll a vanguard they are idiot proof. A good tank spaces his taunts so the dps doesn't pull from the initial start. I am goining to talk tanking mechanics or strategy , I do have a question. Heres a thought where are all the good tanks? There are tons of bad tanks in this game.
All the good or even marginaly skilled tanks are in guilds and have been frustrated with the group finder or random additions to OPs or HM FP. They have sworn only to run for guildies. Why ? Because of the shenanigans random dps do. The frustration of people not listening to strategy or forceleaping to the nearst mob get old when (as the tank) starts blowing his cooldowns to contain all the extra mobs. This game has made tanking more than just stand there and take it. All the ops have a mechanic in the strategy for the tank to be mobil. How well they hold treat while cycling there cooldowns durring tank swaps and running enviormentals determins their greatness in the tanking world.
The OP should probly admit in their original post , that many tanks will refuse to take compleate strangers through FP. A disclaimer I will put, as a geared tank who has been to the hardest OPS and in a raiding guild. I know for a fact thet none of the tanks in my guild will run for non-guildies. The lack off care in co-ordinating a groups survival has angered them, so they refuse "pug it". If any one one wished to accuse me of using blanket statements. So find a guild.