Wow roles: Are tanks special? R.E Call to Arms.

The current state of affairs ^.^

Taking a look at the latest Wow Insider post on the subject >linky< on the Call to Arms feature - there is mass debate being sparked regarding tanks and whether or not they are "special"...

Well, I dunno!
Lets speculate :)

3 Roles: Tank, healer, dps dps dps.

All roles are required for a successful run that is of the appropriate level. (I.e your not over-geared or running low level dungeons.)

All dungeons require someone to tank*. Some fights may allow for momentary use of a dps for tanking - or maybe a hunters pet (check out big red rhino's blog for more on that!). Without a tank then the healer will have to spam heal to keep whomever is getting hit alive, who just wont be able to keep aggro against the healing threat.* This results in deaths, unless you are very lucky, skilled, or both.*

All dungeons require someone to heal. For various group pulls there may be sufficient self-healing for the tank to stay alive (especially if they are a paladin) but on any serious encounter - they need to be kept up by someone - and bandaging aint gonna cut it. (Pun intended.)

All dungeons require DPS - although depending on the dps output of the other two dps and the tank, the skill of the players, any tricks they have out their sleeve, etc - then you can often run with a DPS down (or two once you are geared, but thats against my premise up top.)

Ergo: I am going to take the standpoint that the DPS are nothing particularly special. They are easily replaceable - they can do most things faster in the outside world since they are killing things faster, or before they are even hurt, and tend to level quicker. They are also ten a penny and tanks and healers can DPS in an alternative spec*. Tanks and healers are both vital roles. DPS are important but not vital.

There, my deduction. All classes can be fantastic if you put the right person behind the controls, and everyone plays what they want to (well, I assume so unless maybe you are getting paid to play!) so if everyone get in eventually - whats the harm? Other than the "special people" getting a treat for what is usually a trickier role. If nothing else it is certainly more prone to blame if things fail. Im happy to stick to my DPS despite the changes, although I do have a priest, and I had a tank in Wrath - both of whom I enjoyed thoroughly.

Hopefully there is no offence in this post, there is none intended, but, if anyone out there does happen to take offence... well... your offended. I cant help but deduce that DPS are less vital - but people opt to play them, and in general in my experience - have been more fun.* :p Have a nice day!

-V

*There are of course exceptions...

Wow Dungeon Finder - Call to arms: again.

Looks like this topic has continued to gain momentum, and some strong opinions. Wow Insider put an interesting post up on the topic that is worth a read, that also links to a number of the big bloggers out there, and their opinions on the topic. Im almost tempted to hit up the main forums and see what the thoughts of the masses are!

-V

Wow Dungeon Finder - Call to arms: Yuz!

In my foray into Cataclysm and the new and improved dungeon finder, I found myself taking a liking to healing and tanking random pugs - although sometimes you still had fairly lengthly queues to join as one or the other if you were not the class that was lacking.

I think the Call to Arms addition to the dungeon finder shall prove to be a great thing, for many reasons - although I can single out a few potential niggles at the same time.

It is great because it should indeed shorten queue times, since those that may not be thinking of pugging a dungeon can see that their class is lacking and either through a sense of noble responsibility - or the fact they will get into a dungeon instantly - they are more likely to hit that join button. It is also great because it will encourage those that normally DPS, or dont normally pug - to give it a blast since there is more incentive to get in there. And lastly, who doesn't like free stuff - especially if you were already planning on hitting up a random! (This also however, leads to '1' below)

The downsides I can see to it are:

1) That it may push potential tanks or healers over the precipice from DPS who may not be geared or experienced enough to perform. Whilst it is good to get them practicing right away, that kind of breaking in is in my experience usually best to be done with a group of friends as the group you crash may not appreciate you causing them to wipe way more than they should, and also the backlash of this may put you off of pugging as the abuse and echoes of "Noob" rattle around in their noggins. It may not even be their fault that the group wipes, but lack of confidence and the rest of the group just doing their normal thing and not accommodating for the inexperience can pull what it cant handle or rush.

2) Blackmail. If your role is flashing as "Call to arms" - the douchebags are going to crawl out of the woodwork. People will (its inevitable, even if rare) start to demand certain drops go to them or they will /quit and leave the party in a lengthly (although not as lengthly as before) queue. They may just act like total idiots and ruin everyones experience knowing it is unlikely they are going to be kicked and replaced, and that folks are more likely to just grin and bear it.

Amendment: 3 below does not exist: You must queue up solo. This leads me to a new 3: I see this as a bad thing as it encourages you to do everything without people you know... Not very sociable >:-(
(Invalid)3) Working in a pre-set group with friends or guildies, it is, in my experience, common to find more than one person queuing up as a tank or healer - this might produce conflict if one is not willing to back down or of they both go multi-role that one person might keep getting the role that gets the goodies.(/Invalid)

Overall as I say - I think this is a positive thing, but unfortunately the conflicts mentioned above ARE going to happen from time to time, although you may be lucky enough not to witness it.

Happy hunting!
-V