Cross server LFG, and STILL cannot find tanks or healers.

[Altira]

People are talking in another thread about Rift's future being affected by other MMO's coming out soon. I think it will have little impact compared to the huge issue with the lack of people willing to play a tank or healer, from level 1-50.

It's bonus XP week, and I'm still sitting in queue for an hour or so for a tank or a healer. (I'm DPS) This is from L1-40. Same when queuing for T2's.

Then when you get a tank, at least half of the time they're terrible or don't work out. By the latter I mean suddenly they DC and never return (this happens often for some reason..). Or they make up some excuse, "can someone else tank because I'm not really geared for this". Lol. Also, Rifstalkers should not be allowed to tank without some kind of gear check made, only 1 out of 10 can actually tank, the rest get 2 shotted by everything.

Similarly for healers, I hear excuses like, "I probably won't be able to heal this I'm not geared enough". Or the second I switch to a heal role to rez someone, they make some excuse and suggest I heal. (And yet I do 3 times the DPS of everyone else which is a total waste)

SO..

I'm wondering why this isn't discussed that often on the forums. This is a huge problem with Rift and unless all you do is PvP, it's going to make the game get boring fast.

When I played Vanguard, all the classes were fun. My tank did great damage and gave the group some nice buffs (like a Warlord but without the huge 5 min restriction). My Disciple was a very good healer, gave nice support buffs, and did great damage as well.

What I'd like to see is Rift allow for tanks to do a lot more DPS. Something like the Berserker in EQ2. They tank well and do massive AE DPS. The Berserker relies more on damage for threat than abilities that generate threat. That is a great concept. Similarly the Disciple relies on the strength of their attacks and the combination of attacks, towards healing.

One change I'd like to see is Chlormancers given more AE damage and that it translates to more healing. So basically the more mobs you pull, the more healing a Chloro can dish out. And provide a threat transfer to their Synthesis, transferring a percentage of their threat to the target of their Synthesis. (Or maybe another activated ability that does this) And maybe give them an AE life based root, like roots coming out of the ground, that does not break on damage but has a 6 sec duration or something. Most of the time I see a tank charge in and there's always like 1 or 2 adds that run off to attack that bard giving the group buffs, or the healer, or the ranged DPS that started firing earlier, all of which are standing waaaaay in the distance to make the mob run as far away from the tank as possible. LMAO. Stuff like that, to make it more FUN to play as a healer, more things we can do that help in different situations.

The other concern I have is with the players. Most players I group with just can't create an effective role, or more than one role. And a lot of players refuse to acknowledge the importance of making a healing role so they can rez. So everyone has to run all the way back through a dungeon after a wipe, because they didn't want to pay the plat for another role, or be forced to play it (healer). Considering the inconvenience of running all the way through a dungeon every wipe, that says a lot towards people's aversion to healing.

[Jaelon]

The dbag to decent player ratio is so screwed, the "good" tanks run with groups they know. New tanks can't get a decent shake either, since one mistake and half the group is like /sighquit or /ragequit. OP makes some good suggestions for making tanking more fun, but people in general need to get over the whole idea that "every tank must do every pull exactly perfect every time or I quit!"

Just my opinion.

[Oblixt]

"every tank must do every pull exactly perfect every time or I quit!"

It's pretty funny how much you actually see that. All the while a dps is off on his own target and the healer is letting people drop left and right.

[TyR4n7]

Bonus plaques if you select two roles on the LFG tool.

EG.

Warrior = DPS / Tank. If you select both options when the LFG tool asks what you want to queue as then you receive x amount of bonus plaqueus or similar bonus. If you switch the spec for longer than say 5 - 10 mins throughout the dungeon (Allowing brief spec change to rez others) you will no longer be elligable for the set bonus.


Same will work for all classes

Rogue = DPS / Support and so on

Just a thought

[Chandrae]

It's pretty funny how much you actually see that. All the while a dps is off on his own target and the healer is letting people drop left and right.

As a healer, I find your comment highly insulting!

When the tank can't hold aggro or the support starts a HoT too soon or a DPS dumps on a mob and pulls aggro off of the tank it makes my job very much harder.

There is no "I" in TEAM!

[Jaelon]

As a healer, I find your comment highly insulting!

When the tank can't hold aggro or the support starts a HoT too soon or a DPS dumps on a mob and pulls aggro off of the tank it makes my job very much harder.

There is no "I" in TEAM!

Especially when there is blame to pass around.

[Oblixt]

As a healer, I find your comment highly insulting!

I'm a cleric and play all roles so don't take it to heart ><

[Charlice]

The dbag to decent player ratio is so screwed, the "good" tanks run with groups they know. New tanks can't get a decent shake either, since one mistake and half the group is like /sighquit or /ragequit. OP makes some good suggestions for making tanking more fun, but people in general need to get over the whole idea that "every tank must do every pull exactly perfect every time or I quit!"

Just my opinion.

I concur.

Sheesh tanks are not born tanks cut them some slack. Probably more chance of a lot of tanks not queueing because they're new, maybe not geared yet, new to the zone, and they've already had a bad experience in a group. Same goes with healers.

Just as dps needs to learn new zones so do tanks. Sadly tanks are expected to know all the zones as soon as they zone in.

People need to learn patience and to remember it's a game. Also helps if you can lose that 'I'm more leet' than you attitude.

[oothoo]

the problem you encountered isnt new. it has been around for some time. however the lfd didnt solve any of the problems getting a group. all it did was satisfy the vocal minority that thought it would.

most tanks wont tank outside thier group of friends or guildies. many are tired of being blamed for wiping when a range rogue tab targets another group, a support refuses to play support on a boss, and etc. frankly i dont blame them. the tank mechanics are fine in this game. people need to get a good spec or two and learn to use them. some tanks keep even more.

clerics get blamed alot for lack of healing which isnt justified either. most of the complaints are from dps that pull agro and then keeps on dpsing and dont get healed. people i dont heal agro pulling dps! most clerics need more than one heal spec and learn to use them as some are more tailored for certain fight types. here tanks blame the poor cleric for not single healing them inwhich even if the t1's and t2's are dumbed down a stun can still cause a wipe without support. most can dps fine since that is how they leveled up and are more comfortable playing.

in a nutshell too many people have been in over geared groups and are spoiled when the tank and healer is actually in there trying to get gear. when people are in such groups they whine about it taking too long , start making rude comments or just start kicking people. over all it makes a terrible playing experience with no means of punishment. yes these people need to be punished

as for rogue tanks ( some other tanks too) most think they can just go in start tanking since hey i got 50 toughness. rogue tanks are very very gear dependant and frankly i refuse to heal any of them. avoidance tanking only works when you are over geared for the zone you are in.

[Chandrae]

I'm a cleric and play all roles so don't take it to heart ><

Yea, it's always the healer's fault.

[Vyxagallanxchi]

As someone who has never tanked before but has seen what people are like to tanks and healers in dungeons, I'm amazed people queue as tank or healer at all. I would love to learn how to tank as I think it'd be a hell of a lot more interesting then hitting 111112111112111112 as a DPS class but I'm not going to bother trying and getting pissed off with trying unfamiliar territory in such a hostile environment. I think a lot of people are the same way. When I started Rift, I wanted to play Riftstalker and tank stuff. Went into a dungeon as a DPS build when I hit level 17 and saw a group in chat needing one more DPS and saw some major tank / healer abuse and every single run Ive ever done has been much the same.

[m1nus]

There is no "I" in TEAM!

...but there is in WIN.

[MrFunsocks]

Your reward for queueing as more than one role? You get a damn group. Period. I don't care if you lack tanks or healers, I don't. Because I am always a tank or healer. You don't need more rewards, you need to man up and do a good job.

I also haven't seen the "****ting on new tanks" thing people keep blabbing about. Just an excuse to me. I see most people being very supportive for new tanks, so long as they aren't derpy/egonuts/defensive.

[Lectural]

I know there's a LFG tool and it's suppose to help decrease LFG time. But honestly I think part of the problem is due to lack of tanks but I feel another part of the problem is that the populations (or capacity) seem small. On my server silkweb which is medium during peak hours, I feel like I know everyone.

What's worst often times when I am in a queue (especially for a tank) I see the same faces and people who are on a different servers.

I really believe that part of the problem is sever capacity. I mean it takes forever for items to sell even when I price them at rock bottom. Also about a 1/5 of a time when I search for something it's not listed in AH.

[Jaelon]

Your reward for queueing as more than one role? You get a damn group. Period. I don't care if you lack tanks or healers, I don't. Because I am always a tank or healer. You don't need more rewards, you need to man up and do a good job.

I also haven't seen the "****ting on new tanks" thing people keep blabbing about. Just an excuse to me. I see most people being very supportive for new tanks, so long as they aren't derpy/egonuts/defensive.

A week ago yesterday I queued as tank for the first time. Got a dungeon I hadn't been to, but I had watched it on Youtube. (is that cheating?) I did what I thought was the right thing and let everyone know it was my first tank run. One DPS and the healer both quit. The other DPS said "just let me tank it then, I don't have all night." I haven't bothered to try it since. I guess maybe if you always queue as a tank or healer, you wouldn't likely see people ****ting on the new ones.