General rant for the tanks out there who are being driven off the server.

[runlvlzero]

I felt like this should be addressed in a public forum. I'm not going to name names but I think this community needs a heads up on what is going on in the majority of mid level groups for tanks.

A tanks job is to control the tactical combat of the group, be it through positioning, being the MA and picking targets, and occasionally pulling. They have to work with the the healer and puller to not over-pull or pull poorly. This out of the way lets get into the meat of the problem.

What is happening is an influx of very nubish ogre/troll tanks and ignorant group members who do not let the tank do their job, do not listen to the advice of a well seasoned tank that knows how to deal with different situations like fear, and caster mobs. These types are constantly harrasing people for playing tanks other then an ogre discounting them as worthless as well as their opinions.

If your going to invite a tank into a group at least listen to and try to follow what directions they give, especially when it comes to assisting mobs. Do not be a @$$hat and deliberately target other mobs with your pets then tell the tank that you were saving them or the bard/enchanter. Its not your job, your job is to kill the targets the tanks pick.

This is just basically how it is and how it has been in any successful EQ group since the dawn of time. When the newbs out there degrade and work against the tank then it causes group wipes.

So I don't care how big your EPEEN is or that you got an A in math class last summer if your tank says to do something just do it.

By no means is it easy to play a tank and they have much more stake in the success of a group because they rely on you not to get them killed in order to accomplish anything at all.

If you don't want to listen to your friendly tank, go and solo, and don't ever think of joining a group or being considered a decent player ever.

Remember that when the server is dieing and its hard as hell to find a tank. You can't rely on your guilds uber twinked tanks forever. You are loosing allot of good tanks to other classes and games because of this kind of ignorance. Eventually you will get to a point were ignorance is not going to cut it and no matter how well geared anyone in the group is they wont be able to save you constantly from your own stupid mistakes, nor will they wish to continue spending the time.

I would just like to add this small edit and say that what a tank brings to your group in knowledge far out ways any stats they may have incidentally accumulated over the course of a few hrs or days online.

Thanks, your friendly tank who is now playing a solo class because they are tired of all the shenanigans out there.