166: My Life As a Tank
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You damn well better! Made me sniffle, it did. I almost always play the tank or the healer for the very same reason. I need to do everything I can to help others. I live for helping others, so it is how I play. I'm nowhere near as big as you, but I've always been able to hold my own. And thus, I've always pushed myself to protect others as well. It has rarely ended well, but it's what I struggle for.Spinwhiz said:
Playing the tank is a lot more fun than the healer, so my natural role as a healer is often overrun by that. And the fact that healers normally can't damage for shit, so a tank can solo a lot better. It has changed slightly over the years, but still.
Indeed there are, and it is saddening. For whatever various reasons we exist, we need to. Paladins protect a cause, warriors fight for what they believe in. Sure, I sound pretentious and nerdy, but we are needed. Not just physically, but to stand up for everyone oppressed. Many would say this is the prime role of some government officials, even. As a hopeless romantic, I guess I'm biased and whatever, but I really think we could use more protectors. Hm... ideas for cybernetic ones pop to mind. I better shake them. It never ends well. Back to supporting people! Continue the quest, brother of the order. It will exist as long as humans do.Spinwhiz said:
(This post was brought to you by a tad of self-irony)
The order of difficulty of activity in WoW I would put like this :
Raid Healing > 5 man tanking > Raid Tanking > 5 man healing > DPS
Also I think tanking grants the leadership role in groups and raids because it's the tank who - as part of the job of controlling and mitigating enemy abilities - is forced to understand them. To the healer it's just compensating for incoming burst, and to the DPS it's just pew pew avoid the fire. Granted exceptional players will understand the fights anyway, but do a PuG and you'll see the average healers and DPS - and for that matter, average tanks, are barely capable of following directions. But when you can have just one good player in a group, if it's the tank, it will be a smooth and easy run - as long as the rest are at that barely competent mark. A bad tank and you can't do anything.
So tanking places your skills under the spotlight more than any other role - though raid healing is more challenging, it's also a shared burden among many players at once, and it's hard to tell individual's skills.
Good tanks know they are of high value, and either get arrogant, or manage to be the most awesome people ever. I think I was awesome for a good while then got pretty arrogant. Then I got bitter about how much I was carrying other people. So, I retired my tank character at the end of Burning Crusade, and I think that that contributed to my lack of desire to continue in Wrath. Though I told myself I didn't want to do all the work of tanking, I really can't be satisfied just DPSing on my hunter. It's too simplistic.
Ultimately, I like being able to save a group, even if at the same time I'm bitter about spending my efforts on behalf of people who put far less effort into it than I.
Raid Healing > 5 man tanking > Raid Tanking > 5 man healing > DPS
Also I think tanking grants the leadership role in groups and raids because it's the tank who - as part of the job of controlling and mitigating enemy abilities - is forced to understand them. To the healer it's just compensating for incoming burst, and to the DPS it's just pew pew avoid the fire. Granted exceptional players will understand the fights anyway, but do a PuG and you'll see the average healers and DPS - and for that matter, average tanks, are barely capable of following directions. But when you can have just one good player in a group, if it's the tank, it will be a smooth and easy run - as long as the rest are at that barely competent mark. A bad tank and you can't do anything.
So tanking places your skills under the spotlight more than any other role - though raid healing is more challenging, it's also a shared burden among many players at once, and it's hard to tell individual's skills.
Good tanks know they are of high value, and either get arrogant, or manage to be the most awesome people ever. I think I was awesome for a good while then got pretty arrogant. Then I got bitter about how much I was carrying other people. So, I retired my tank character at the end of Burning Crusade, and I think that that contributed to my lack of desire to continue in Wrath. Though I told myself I didn't want to do all the work of tanking, I really can't be satisfied just DPSing on my hunter. It's too simplistic.
Ultimately, I like being able to save a group, even if at the same time I'm bitter about spending my efforts on behalf of people who put far less effort into it than I.
=DSpinwhiz said:
I have had very similar reactions out there in meat space as well, that event specifically made me think of others I have been in where I purposefully place myself in a particular spot to protect others because I know I can roll with the punches.
You have my admiration sir. I would have and have in the past, gone after people like the one you described having much rage towards as a young man when your mom also protected you by holding you back. You may be a Paladin but I end up being a Monk of the same alignment. Now all we need is a cleric and we are set!
Man you sound like a hero to me alright. I've had a fair fling with tanking. The exhilaration of being the MT when you down a progression boss is something that just cannot be described. Being needed, I have realised, is one of the things that I find the most deeply satisfying. Through the bad times and the good, 24 people yelling at you for repair bills when the net disconnects mid-fight, being a MT is an experience unparalleled in MMO.
respect x
respect x
I played a tank on Guild Wars for 3 years and loved it. anyone for sorrows furnace 5 man? with a decent bonder behind you Warriors were nigh unkillable.
Also old school Droks running before factions, when the warrior was undisputed king of running..... then came the perma sins and the world got a little bit darker for everyone
Also old school Droks running before factions, when the warrior was undisputed king of running..... then came the perma sins and the world got a little bit darker for everyone
Gaming definately needs more tanks and healers. Can't speak for the WoW (I've avoided that so far), but I've done a fair bit of D&D, and it's the same there - everyone wants to be the big boomstick, and very few want to make sure the boomsticks don't get squicked. (I usually end up as the cleric, and tell people "Stay within 30' of me if you want to live.")
I ALWAYS end up tanking. My first main on WoW was a druid tank, in the BC days. Then it was a warrior tank, and before I quit about 3 weeks ago it was a DK frost tank. However I don't have the same instincts in real life. I'd like to, but I just don't have the balls. I think the "tank" character is the kinda person I would like to be in real life
Yeah tanking is definitely one of the more boring aspects of MMOs, especially when you get good enough that no matter what you're up against you do your job with little more than a /faceroll every now and then. Tanks also do take the blame 95% of the time so unless the healer or dps is just absolutely retarded and everyone else realizes it then you're going to take the blame if things go wrong, and as a tank that mindset rubs off on you and when things do go wrong you feel bad because you weren't good enough. So what if the dps and healer were pulling adds left and right and the healer blew his mana away like a cheap whore on a lonely prom night, you should've been good enough to tank it. But I think that's the kind of person that makes the best tank. The one who views the tank position as that of a heroic one; you're always up there on the front lines facing down the enemy, keeping the others safe from harm, the entire group depending on you to make sure things go smoothly. So even if it was a thankless position when the call arises there will always be a hero who will step forth to defend the people's will and see it come to fruition.
So while I say boring it also has its own excitement for those who enjoy it.
So while I say boring it also has its own excitement for those who enjoy it.
That was a really insightful article. I have always wondered why I need to be the tank. I used to play WoW (I'm not sure if you have played it or your opinions of it, but I'm assuming you have a basic knowledge of it) and I played as a Feral Druid. And while a Druid is the most versatile class (I enjoy being versatile), I specialized in tanking.Spinwhiz said:
But oddly enough, I had so much fun playing as a Hunter (DPS) because I like the concept of being able to live off the wilderness (that's just the lore of the class obviously. Also note that druids also live in the wilderness). I might have had more fun playing as a Hunter, but the thing was and still is (I'm considering going back to the game when Cataclysm comes out) that I NEEDED to be the tank. I couldn't not be the tank. It just doesn't feel right to me when I'm raiding or just in a PUG. So I stuck with Druid rather than Hunter because of my desire to tank.
So thank you for the insight. I suppose I understand this unexplainable need to be the tank now.
Edit: And I would have to agree with you, it does stem from personality traits in real life. I'm not one to let some form of injustice slip by without a confrontation. Keep up the good work, and keep up the "real life tanking" haha. I will too
I'm glad you could relate to the article and thanks for the compliment. I'm actually surprised at the amount of people who feel the same way we do. Maybe I'm on to something big! lolzenoaugustus said:That was a really insightful article. I have always wondered why I need to be the tank. I used to play WoW (I'm not sure if you have played it or your opinions of it, but I'm assuming you have a basic knowledge of it) and I played as a Feral Druid. And while a Druid is the most versatile class (I enjoy being versatile), I specialized in tanking.Spinwhiz said:
But oddly enough, I had so much fun playing as a Hunter (DPS) because I like the concept of being able to live off the wilderness (that's just the lore of the class obviously. Also note that druids also live in the wilderness). I might have had more fun playing as a Hunter, but the thing was and still is (I'm considering going back to the game when Cataclysm comes out) that I NEEDED to be the tank. I couldn't not be the tank. It just doesn't feel right to me when I'm raiding or just in a PUG. So I stuck with Druid rather than Hunter because of my desire to tank.
So thank you for the insight. I suppose I understand this unexplainable need to be the tank now.
Edit: And I would have to agree with you, it does stem from personality traits in real life. I'm not one to let some form of injustice slip by without a confrontation. Keep up the good work, and keep up the "real life tanking" haha. I will too
Maybe you are onto something big. I really feel the same way about tanking. My main is a Paladin in World of Warcraft, and I've done everything you can do as the class pretty much. Nothing, though, quite matches up to the thrill of tanking. Nothing matches the rush I get of just charging headlong into a cave with nine or twenty four other people behind me, staring down and standing toe to toe with some twenty foot tall monstrosity. It's a lot of fun to just trade blows with a goliath.Spinwhiz said:
The moment I was most proud of, though, was the first kill my old guild ever managed of Kel'Thuzad in Naxxramas-25. I was one of the two off-tanks we had. Through the fight, these four Crypt Lords that hit like dump trucks with rockets on the sides spawn. When KT was down to about 35%, the other off-tank died. Two Crypt Lords were about to run free through my entire raid. Somehow, I managed to taunt both of them and now had four Crypt Lords beating on me for about a minute and a half. It was pretty awesome watching my health bar drop in huge chunks, then get restored. I blew every healing cooldown I had to try and ease the load on my healers and then, finally, Kel'Thuzad fell. That was badass. My whole guild cheered over Ventrilo. I don't think I've ever had a smile that big on my face.
On the other hand, though, there are tanks out there who are just selfish. They don't want to be in the spotlight out of some need to protect or help or do something helpful. There are just as many (if not more) tanks out there that want the spotlight for the sake of the spotlight alone. As a chance to say "Look how awesome I am!" That's not to say that, at some level, all of us who main-tank (or tank at all) don't enjoy that. It's just to say that some tanks are tanking for the same reason as the majority of nukers out there DPS.
I totally agree with you. There are some people who play tanks that really just want an ego boost and that is all but from what I've seen, they usually wash out as well. I'm met quite a few who raid a lot but keep jumping to different guilds because of their attitude, regardless of how good they are.Epictank of Wintown said:
I may have to propose a part 2 of this article. Perhaps do some more research and include some other classes. Hmm...the possibilities of what I may find!