OK this is getting rather silly regarding hard mode Flashpoint GF

Of course I am, I agree that you cannot tank without it. But ToT only tell me whether a DPS has taken agro from my current target. The healer can give me a more complete story.

well your healer may be able to, when I heal HMFPs I just watch health bars and make sure I'm not standing in fire. Beyond that I am just trying to kill the weaks and strongs the dps are ignoring with their gold fever.

LOL. Yeah, on some of my DPS, clearing trash mobs can be frustrating because they die too fast for me to get into my rotation. On my Sorc/Sage in heal spec, however, I consider using Force Storm/Quake on the weak mobs to be preventative medicine. I'll stun a lone gold for the same reason.

Did I say it was mandatory? Point to me exactly where I said that.

No, i didn't ssy that. What I said was join a guild. Not as an excuse. As actual advice to attempt to HELP you (and others) mitigate a common problem. (I was also speaking in a general sense, not directly at you, because it's a problem not restricted to you) Tanks don't need to que and risk derps, if they're any good they can spend 2 seconds in guild chat and have the dps/healers they need to do whatever they want. So, because you are not in control of the general playerbase and so not capable of affecting the changes that might make tanks more willing to que, it's on you to make sure you have access to tanks. Now, i did specifically mention that you can also just try to get on good terms with various tanks so they're on your friends lists and would be happy to do flashpoints with you upon request as well, but guilds can provide you with essentially the same opportunity without requiring you to get on good terms with each tank individually, because if you're on good terms with other members of the guild (tanks or otherwise), they'll invite you when they do runs and you'll likely have more opportunities to get on good terms with the tanks in your guild.

You also seeem to have a misconception about how guilds work. I'm in a guild, and by no means is it "form premades that only play with eachother." I play with lots of different members who I may or may not talk to much and it's rarely just the same premade that did it yesterday. What it is, is a group of competent, not necessarily stellar, players that are generally cool to be around because otherwist they wouldn't have gotten a ginvite. We even pick up dps (and sometimes heals) from outside the guild for the GF run fairly frequently, but we already have the tank and healer and have a majority in the party comp so we can boot derps and get competent dps. It's nothing but a win for everyone involved in out guild, and the guild (excluding the raid group) is a loose association of competent players who like to have access to the other roles when they que so they aren't dealing with idiots that get the group wiped.

I have to agree with so many people in here. I only tank for guild fun, I won't queue as a tank. There are so many ADHD GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO DPS types out there that it makes it a virtual hell for tanks.

It is not fun.

Which sadly leaves us with only the "dur. I did this before [wipe]" or the "never did this before, but oh well [wipe]" tanks. A bad healer I can deal with. Vote to kick, summon Treek. Bad tanks make me want to swear off content that I have to pug.

I didn't mean to sound elitist and clearly not all DPS are as described. The bad just happens enough to make me only want to tank guild fun.

Then you are playing with the wrong DPS. Most of my toons are DPS, and I tend to follow the tank's lead (unless he/she is new and asks for help on something I know well).

You won't have to ask me twice to let you do all the pulling, dying costs money.

This is probably the number one question I would ask many of the 'don't group/solo-only' crowd, if I knew I'd get an honest answer.

'Where did you get these weird notions of what being in a guild is like?'

Some of the comments you see around here lead me to believe that some guilds demand tithes, if not firstborn children in sacrifice!

As a tank, I shall maintain my right to choose when and where I queue as a tank. For nearly two years I queued into HM FPs and pugged multiple raids as a tank. NEVER again.

Why?


Stupidity.
DPS believing they are tanks.
Sorc Healers thinking "Static Bubble" is actually a heal.
DPS being idiots.
DPS running ahead and pulling an extra group.
Healers going AFK.
Healers not being geared properly.
DPS not being geared properly.
DPS not knowing which stims are meant for their class.
Bioware not rewarding my patience with those people enough.
Bioware giving me alarcity and accuracy mods on my starting raid gear.
Bioware confusing newbie tanks by giving them ****, improperly stated base FP/raid gear.
Bioware forcing me to sit through 45 minutes of cutscene everytime I'm "Lucky" enough to get Black Talon.
DPS not spacebarring on Black Talon HM. (Don't use the "Never seen it before Line, its HM for christsake.)
Healers not spacebarring on Black Talon HM. (See above).
Being told by DPS (who have run ahead, pulled multiple groups etc) how to do my job as a tank, when I've been tanking longer than they've been playing most likely.


So yeah.... I'd say fix it, but I doubt its possible. Those are the reasons I typically refrain from entering group finder queue these days as a tank.