We simply need more people playing tanks in this game. They are so few and far between it is hard to get groups going....how can we change this? I believe tactical flashpoints are not the way. Do we beg the devs to make 10 man ops, adding 2 more dps? or 12 man ops adding even more? Do we have ops that only require 1 tank (I think that would actually further diminish tanks). Do we make tanking easier? I would love to have feedback on this.

Solution: Stop crucifying the tank for DPS and Heals dumb mistakes. Then people will play it more.

 

Tanking isn't hard and people only think it's hard because people expect tanks to protect them from all damage, whether they can or not.

Solution: Stop crucifying the tank for DPS and Heals dumb mistakes. Then people will play it more.

 

Tanking isn't hard and people only think it's hard because people expect tanks to protect them from all damage, whether they can or not.

 

Pretty much this. It is the most intimidating thing to start out as a tank, there's a lot of pressure from other players, and since you're the first line of defense any kind of group failure you tend to attribute that failure to yourself. It's less about it being hard in terms of playing it's more about the psychology of it. Some people just don't want to deal with it and find it too daunting. In 8 man raid, let's say you're a DPS, it's easier to blend into the crowd and give "pro tips" from the sidelines, when you're a tank every mistake is in a spotlight.

 

If people stopped being complete ***** to new tanks it would be great. Some smug RDPS making snarky comments from sidelines don't help.

 

Of course, when you get some tanking experience and understand that it's not your job to do EVERYTHING and the rest of the group are also responsible for their survivability, they have CC abilities, aggro drops and such, it's easier to share the blame and have more fun.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Iffyluse

Solution: Stop crucifying the tank for DPS and Heals dumb mistakes. Then people will play it more.

 

Tanking isn't hard and people only think it's hard because people expect tanks to protect them from all damage, whether they can or not.

 

Usually we crucify our healers.

We simply need more people playing tanks in this game. They are so few and far between it is hard to get groups going....how can we change this? I believe tactical flashpoints are not the way. Do we beg the devs to make 10 man ops, adding 2 more dps? or 12 man ops adding even more? Do we have ops that only require 1 tank (I think that would actually further diminish tanks). Do we make tanking easier? I would love to have feedback on this.

 

What's there to say? Roll one

Let see

I have 3 tanks, 3 dps, 1 healer - is that good enough for you? And what's your setup, how many tanks do you have?

FYI tanking new ops is much easier than being dps/healer - it's just taunting, tank swapping and standing in correct spot

Why are you posting here instead of rolling a tank? 12x XP is on right now, you know...

Assassin TNK for hire, any op, any difficulty.

You pay repair bill, I get part of the loot.

We simply need more people playing tanks in this game. They are so few and far between it is hard to get groups going....how can we change this? I believe tactical flashpoints are not the way. Do we beg the devs to make 10 man ops, adding 2 more dps? or 12 man ops adding even more? Do we have ops that only require 1 tank (I think that would actually further diminish tanks). Do we make tanking easier? I would love to have feedback on this.

 

This is funny, because this seems to be one of the most tank heavy games I've ever played. I don't have a problem with people who don't know what they're doing, or who choose to sit there and not do anything, because I do what I do on my guardian without them like a boss. Kolto consoles are lifesavers when a dumb or inexperienced healer is dead.

There are quite a few tanks, there just aren't any that will pug

OP, maybe they just don't want to queue with random people. Why not roll a tank and see yourself? I'm sure you find the reason very quickly.

 

On Ilum doing event, I see:

9/10 Guardians/Juggs are tanks

5/10 Shadows/Assassins are tanks

8/10 Vanguards/PTs are tanks

I would love to learn to tank but the random ******es i have to play with in group finder keeps me from doing it.

I'm new to tanking and have mainly played dps throughout my 3 yrs, it's like SWTOR is a new game to me. I know its gonna take practice, even running flash points as the tank is like an experience even though I have run them hundreds of times before. Things like holding Agro instead of dumping it, leading the fp instead of just following and having the tanks back, who to pull first or even sometimes even which way to go , anyone that has run with Jhaliq or Che-gaar on BC would know I'm a little erratic lol but I know in time and with gear I will get better. Just some off the smarta** comments some give or whispers afterwards, we are all new at something sometime but hey that's cool I've stacked the absorb augs....

There are quite a few tanks, there just aren't any that will pug

 

PUG-ing the new OPS (Ravagers & ToS) just isn't a lot of fun for either tank or healer role. I spend most of my time as a DPS because of it. Before the expansion I got to where I could tank DF and DP no problem even when PUG-ing, but now I'm sticking to my guild runs because of bosses like Bolo and Underlucker.

i think we dont get many tanks cos:

 

a) tanking is pressuring if running for your first time with a group who are relatively experienced. Imagine you're relatively new to swtor, u haven't seen the sm ops, your main is a guardian tank and you've been asked to lead. Gluck

 

b) tanks get alot of flak, and rightly so. I've co-tanked with alot of bad tanks who don't read up on any guides and expect to be carried. P.S. if youre a tank, your focus is on mechanics. So please read/watch up on fights beforehand, you, moreso than any others, should be well informed even if you haven't experienced the fight.

 

c) tanking sucks when youre with a nub group who keep dying to mechanics. When dps/heals keep dying to underlurker and you can't really do anything to help them, it's no longer fun. This is the major reason i don't prefer to tank with pugs.

 

With that said, tanking is probably my most enjoyable role when facing a new encounter in progression ops with a good group. The mechanics for DPS is pretty bland in the new content (basically don't stand in stupid) while it's pretty fun still for tanks imo

In addition to people not wanting the pressure of being front-and-center during each pull, I think a big reason for a lack of tanks is that it's way faster to level as a DPS, so people learn that during the story content. Then when they hit 60, switching to tank would require learning something new, so only the most motivated bother.

Not sure about your guild but we have quite a few tanks but most of them will not do group pickups. Same with our healers. We group to do things together but rarely do group pickups.

 

Most of the time it is the attitude of some of the individuals in these groups that keep people from doing these group pickups.

Edited May 18, 2015 by ScarletBlaze

So I saw this thread and thought I would jump in just to add more comments.

 

I am a TANK.

I am a new TANK.

I like being a TANK.

 

I don't TANK in OPS with PUGS.

 

I am having much fun being the tank.

I ignore everything else but the main focus.

As soon as the mob/boss turns away, I taunt it back.

I keep Guard on the healer, or the higher geared person who can take aggro away from me.

 

What happens a bunch of times, especially during the Gree Event on Ilum, the DPS folks do AOE attacks before I have even initiated combat. When I running KDY to level up before 12x was available, the DPS folks thought they were tanks.

 

I think the education which needs to be implemented to newer players, is let the tank tank.

DPS should not think they are tanks. They usually play solo so are so used to attacking first.

 

It's like the one OP, don't push the button!

 

/Cheers

Miri

Drop the need for a complete secondary gear set, add the ability to swap specs with saved key / quick bar set ups, and I'd probably tank more often.

 

As it is now, not only do tanks have to put up with the stupidity of others in groups, they have to either gimp themselves by staying a tank full time, or build two full sets of gear and deal with setting up their bars every time they swap back and forth.

 

To me, it just isn't worth it, so most of my tank capable characters don't tank.

No one ever questions my ability to hold treat

All I do is tank. Every tank. All of the time. Tank you very much!

I'm in a pretty large and diverse guild, where we make it an active policy to encourage people to alt across different roles (as a conscious way of avoiding member burnout). So we strongly encourage tanks to have healers (or preferably, DPS) that they raid on regularly, and vice versa with healers and DPS. We actively discourage people who want to do ONLY one role and never anything else.

 

The reason this is interesting is it means I've heard basically every reason under the sun why people don't like tanking, or don't like DPS, or don't like healing. Tanking almost universally boils down to one of two things: either they find it "boring" (aka The Milas Excuse™), or they find it extremely stressful (i.e. the pressure of controlling the pull). I'm not sure that either of these problems can be addressed easily, as they are highly subjective and personal and also fundamental to the nature of tanking.

 

Simply put: the people who don't like tanking won't like tanking, no matter what you do, and forcing them to tank is just going to end in pain. There are only a certain subset of people who enjoy tanking and who are able to play the tank role at a high level. In fact, there are actually far far fewer of these people GAME WIDE than there are successful progression teams! Most groups carry tanking which is at best mediocre by having insanely good healing and really, really sharp execution from their DPS corps.

 

I don't know how tanking can be made more appealing. Honestly, I'm not even sure that it can be made more appealing, since the elements of it that people tend to dislike are fundamental to the role itself (and also happen to be the elements that "natural tanks" enjoy). This certainly isn't something that Bioware can really fix at a game design level.

Not sure "actively discouraging" a pure tanker is an appropriate strategy. There are some...very few perhaps...like me...who only love tanking. My time spent healing/dpsing was complete waste, mainly because it was not enjoyable and I had already studied up on other classes to be a better tank. I did it because it was advised, and it was not good advice for me.

Now, I comprehend the push to balance one's swtor class palette. But, if I popped up as a newbie in your guild, then would you actively discourage me from my particular vocation? Perhaps this is an exception to the rule scenario...who knows?

Still, I enjoy the pressure and responsibility of tanking. When other classes lose their challenge, tanking holds true with challenges from the group. And, there's a flip side to the negative coin: When you tank well, people go out of their way to commend you. Granted, there are many drawbacks to the tank role. Yet, for those who are natural tanks, these specific drawbacks are the very things that attract us. We all may be crazy. Can't discount it. Shoot...I'm mediator and my job entails standing in between two or more parties who generally hate one another. Perhaps that is real life "tanking." Regardless, I'd hate for a natural, pure tank to be actively discouraged from only tanking...when in fact that is the only role they will ever enjoy.

 

I may be splitting hairs here...just thought I'd add my two cents. At the very least, it was something to do while the Harbinger was down for the third time today.

Edited May 18, 2015 by UberSamoyed

There are quite a few tanks, there just aren't any that will pug

 

^^^ This.

 

I don't know how tanking can be made more appealing. Honestly, I'm not even sure that it can be made more appealing, since the elements of it that people tend to dislike are fundamental to the role itself (and also happen to be the elements that "natural tanks" enjoy). This certainly isn't something that Bioware can really fix at a game design level.

 

KBN, bringing the realness as always. ~salute~

 

i think we dont get many tanks cos:

 

a) tanking is pressuring if running for your first time with a group who are relatively experienced. Imagine you're relatively new to swtor, u haven't seen the sm ops, your main is a guardian tank and you've been asked to lead. Gluck

 

Meh. That's a black-and-white simplification of a situation that is full of greys. Tanks IMO generally look to lead the raid, but when the tank is inexperienced but there are other members of the group who are not? The other members take the lead. NBD. It's up to the group to come to a decision about it, and not assume universally that "the tank leads".

 

b) P.S. if youre a tank, your focus is on mechanics. So please read/watch up on fights beforehand, you, moreso than any others, should be well informed even if you haven't experienced the fight.

 

+IYNSHO

 

I am a tank, and I've been told a good one, but I don't learn well by reading up or watching videos on the fight. I learn best by doing. Everyone learns differently. Don't try to shoehorn everyone else into your expectations.

 

Or do, and potentially dismiss someone who could be a really good tank.

 

c) The mechanics for DPS is pretty bland in the new content (basically don't stand in stupid) while it's pretty fun still for tanks imo

 

...and I find the opposite to be true. It seems that each new set of Ops puts more and more expectations on the skill of the DPS and Healers and same ol', same ol' on the tanks.

Not sure "actively discouraging" a pure tanker is an appropriate strategy. There are some...very few perhaps...like me...who only love tanking. My time spent healing/dpsing was complete waste, mainly because it was not enjoyable and I had already studied up on other classes to be a better tank. I did it because it was advised, and it was not good advice for me.

Now, I comprehend the push to balance one's swtor class palette. But, if I popped up as a newbie in your guild, then would you actively discourage me from my particular vocation? Perhaps this is an exception to the rule scenario...who knows?

 

There are exceptions, certainly. I can think of two people in particular who are extremely good tanks, enjoy tanking almost to a pathological extent, and really REALLY don't want to do anything else. So that's what they do. :-) We still try to have random fail fun with them in other roles (e.g. fail-alt wiping on NiM Nefra while one of them trots out a healer toon). In short, we encourage multi-role players, we don't forbid single-rolers.

 

To be clear, I think there are skills to master in all three roles which pertain in very subtle ways to the other roles. Thinking about a fight through the lens of a DPS (especially a melee) has a profound impact on the way in which you face, position and generally control certain fights. Having a deep understanding of how a healer triages a raid frame and the way in which they plot their rotation to the damage profile has the result of completely flipping on its head the way that you situationally use your defensive CDs and even how you will position yourself. That's not to say you can't learn those things as a pure tank, but they're certainly more readily accessible through immersion in the other role(s).

 

Similarly, if you're a DPS or a healer, mastering the tanking role will teach you plenty of things that are much harder to learn in your primary role. For example, DPS are often severely challenged by the mechanical and positional requirements of tanking (especially converted ranged DPS). When (and if) they can master tanking though, they bring those skills back to their main role and are far better for it.

Edited May 18, 2015 by KeyboardNinja