How to encourage people to tank.

I've just started doing a bit of tanking myself, and have found that it's rather fun. But, it's given me a little bit of insight as well on things.

First, the tank is normally (not always) viewed as the leader of the group. That means they are expected to be the one to get the group through the dungeon successfully. That entails, marking targets should there be a need to CC or simply for directed DPS, knowing the fights, understanding the capabilities of all the folks in their group, and being aware of what possible quests or alternate goals are available within the dungeon.

This is a tall order for some people who don't want to feel like they are "working" so hard or are just not the "leader" sort. Maybe they're just used to sitting back and doing what they're told needs done or what they know needs done, but aren't comfortable neccesarily with telling others what to do.

Second, it may just be a class outside their normal comfort zone. They're used to being ranged dps, or taking care of healing. They aren't comfortable with running right up to a mob (or pulling it close) and standing toe to toe with it. It takes a certain sort of mentality and trust that the group is going to be there for you.

Third/last, (and related to the comfort zone comment), keeping and holding aggro is kind of a big deal right? If it's a class outside your norm and you're still getting a feel for the rotations you need to employ not only to stay alive, but to hold that aggro so your healer isn't eaten, it's going to be difficult to adjust to the "jitters" of the task at hand. If your healer gets eaten, you immediately think/know, it was your fault because the mob went right for them and you lost control.

I'm not saying that's how it should be. I'm just saying that there could be good reason just from the very nature of the expectations of being a tank.

Tanks need to be leaders, and it's a good way to challenge yourself if you're not the leader sort. They're fun to play once you get comfortable and it's a great way to expand your game knowledge. (It reminds me a bit of when those who don't PvP start dipping into it and the nerves that go along with it.)

I think having more tanks speak out about what they love about tanking could help as well. Sharing tips and advice is always a great way to get people feeling comfortable with it.

01/28/2011 10:22 AMPosted by Niya

How about providing more in-game information for players, so as a tank I don't have to spend hours reading outside the game?

We're hoping to do just that at some point in the future.

01/28/2011 9:23 AMPosted by Nethaera

Second, it may just be a class outside their normal comfort zone.

Pardon me for stepping in, but I think that this is a really important point. It seems to be that there are a lot of players in World of Warcraft who have developed an amazing level of knowledge and skill with a single class - sometimes even a single spec within that class. They invest time and energy in arranging hotkeys, getting keybindings right, collecting useful addons, and learning which enchants, stats and glyphs are perfect for their playstyle.

It's easy to get attached to a single play style, so much so that trying something else becomes pretty intimidating. If you've trained yourself to be an amazing damage dealer, it can be tough to make the jump to tanking or healing.

I made the jump from damage dealing to healing by picking one of my mid-level alts that I'd already developed a level of comfort with. I had a good idea of what the class was capable of, but I hadn't specced into healing yet. So, I got some good (not the best) healing gear from the auction house, and starting using the Looking For Dungeon tool to learn how to heal. At first, I warned my groups that I was learning and most gratifying, I was pleased to discover that party after party were universally supportive and understanding! I spent time leveling through dungeons and researching my new healer as I did, until I developed reasonable level of knowledge and skill. Now I feel confident about performing both healing and damage dealing roles at top levels. I plan to do the same with tanking.

I realize that not everyone has the inclination to take steps like that, but I just wanted to share a technique that worked to help me to step out of my comfort zones and into a completely new playstyle. It's almost like playing a different game, and I found it really refreshing.

01/28/2011 11:39 AMPosted by Skrump

But for a blue to foster this misconception is making thing worse. I can't stand the typical elitist kiss my feet attitude that many tanks have, and comments like this just feed into that egotistical mindset that the tank is always the king of the party. Stop stroking these jerks. And on the other side of it, stop encouraging the dps that they can just sit there and run their rotation and if the encounter needed them to do something, well, "herp derp the tank woulda told me". That's really bad advice and it does a disservice to those who use LFD. Now, if a player announces that it's their first time in the dungeon, I am happy to offer some help. But if a Hunter in full 346/359 gear doesn't Trap the Runecaster with the big freakin' blue square on it's head because the tank didn't tell him to, that's on the Hunter.

I'm not trying to foster misconceptions. I'm just pointing out that there is an expectation for tanks for the leaders generally speaking. It's intimidating for those that want to play this role and difficult to get others to step forward and lead instead of the tank. We've (including myself) grown comfortable in these types of expectations, and we need to address it as a community. So we either help people learn to be leaders so we all shoulder the task equally, or we continue to expect too much of each other.