So Why is Threat Invisible?

Honestly... I'd be just fine with a Target-of-Target option... Maybe thats in the works and thus it could be their reasoning for not having (Optional or not) a threat indication.

Tanks know.

With experience as a tank, you know what your threat is. You do quick math in your head. Sounds hard at first - like a robot has to do it for you - but its not that hard when you've tanked a hundred times in similar gear with similar people.

I like threat meters, cause then I don't have to do math in my head. I like damage meters, because then I can gauge how much threat people in my team have. I like indicators that say I'm about to lose threat, just in case my math is off. But I don't need these things. They just do part my job for me.

Please oh elite god of mmo tanking, explain to this poor noob exactly how? How much threat does every (because dps and healers need to be aware of their threat as well) ability generate? What value is given for threat and where are you getting your numbers?

I think the main reason that threat was invisible (and still is, in most games) is simply to add a little more challenge to the game.

It's kind of funny, in a way. People talk about how "easy" MMOs have gotten, and how they're not a challenge anymore. Well, yeah. When you're able to pin down every single number in the game, have it displayed in front of you, have macros to run your abilities and add-ons to show you every single aspect of the game, it's not really "playing a game" anymore. You're playing with a spreadsheet that has graphics.

As a DPSer, I have a good idea of what I can do before I'll pick up aggro, based on the tank I'm working with. If I do pick up too much, well, I have tools to help me deal with it until they can get it back. And I know, for the future, that I need to ratchet down my damage by a little bit. Same thing as a healer.

As a tank, I know when my taunts are ready, I know which abilities cause more threat. Sure, having a little window up at the top showing me all the numbers would be "useful", but it's just one more window I have to keep track of, and the more windows I have to keep track of, the more it's like watching a spreadsheet, rather than playing a game.

So sure, having all these copious amounts of "useful tools" can be handy for people. But it also dumbs the game down, and takes away a lot of the mystique, and FUN, of playing the game. At least to me.

When things have been segmented into all their convenient little boxed compartments, and it's no longer a game, I stop playing.

I've tanked multiple operations and I can say I'm never really unsure about my threat level. Sure I don't have any quantifiable values for my threat, but I know what is and is not attacking me. I taunt when needed, and beat on the most dangerous mob to maintain threat. Simple, really.

Are you having trouble holding aggro and you just want something to blame?

Before I quit EQ2, they implimented a Threat meter as well. They're probably had theirs for a couple of years by this point.

Back in EQ2, I had x3 abilities which wiped my combat threat on the target mob and reset my Threat score to 1 pt below the person with the next highest threat. Thus if I had 90% Threat (with 100%+ meaning that I had pulled threat) and hit my threat wipe, the end results were very variable. If I was the only strong dps player present, then my 90% could easily be reset to 40% Threat. Yet if there were a bunch of strong dps players present, then the 1st wipe would only reset me to 85% Threat. This would force me to hit my other x2 Threat Wipes in a row. In the end, my Threat would start at 90% and would skip down to something like 90% > 85% > 75% > 30%. For this kind of situation, having the Threat meter available was invaluable since it give me proactive control which a Threat Loss mechanic that was completely subjective since it depended on the Threat levels of everyone present.

I'm not claiming that EQ2 is the most cutting edge MMO for setting a standard, but the concept of having a Threat Meter (which became part of EQ2's core UI choices) has become increasingly more common.

Everything is invisible in this game. there are no combat logs the mechanics are very very stripped down. if we had visibility it would be way more easier then it is , its horribly easy already.

can't you hit a key stroke to do target of target?

It has probably already been stated in the 20 or so pages here that I am not going to read all of but, an indicator of skill for a DPS class is how far he/she can push it without pulling aggro from the tank. Aggro meters take away from that skill by making it rediculously easy. There should always be a little mystery in a game or else its all just math.