With the new lfg-tool something that has always been known has become even more obvious. There is a huge lack of tanks. Now if you only ever play one role you won't have much to compare with and might think that whatever time you get to wait is average for any class and role. This is not so, as the wait times differ greatly between tanks, healers and dps.
On my mage I usually get to wait something around 10-15 minutes.
On my priest/shammy healers I usually get to wait around 2-5 minutes.
On my warrior tank I usually get to wait 3-5 seconds.
This says alot about the role distribution in wow, and there isn't much new to that really. The lack of tanks has been a problem since the start of wow. For some reason, playing a tank just isn't as tempting as playing a dps. One could blame this on the simple fact that there are actually less classes capable of playing a tank than a dps. But that is also the fact for healing vs dps, and there are siginificantly more healers than tanks out there. Why don't people want to tank? I have some ideas on that but that is for another post.
In any case here we are with a huge shortage on tanks. This means that when I, after having to wait 15 min on my mage for a group, am extremely greatful when it finally finds a tank (it is nearly always the tank who is the last spot missing). And completely devastated when the tank decides to leave before the instance is completed. Waiting for another one will probably take some extra 15 minutes of just standing around.
The problem is that this thinking rubs off for when I later decide to tank. Then I am the one making it happen! I am the one who people have been waiting for for 15 minutes. I am God! And they should worship me. I know that if I decide to leave to get another group I won't have to wait many seconds, while the rest have to wait for another 15 minutes. I am on the greener grass now bizznitches. I am doing the rest of the group a huge favor by deciding to tank them! Everyone in the group knows this, most people would never hurt the feelings of the tank with fear of making them leave. Sometimes I choose to tank some random heroics just because I know it will make someone happy (yes I am a gentle soul). And a little because I like to tank. And a little more because I like the power in the "ahhh they need me to do this"-feeling.
Of course alot has to happen before I really decide to leave. Usually you can just decide to kick someone if they're underachieving or acting like douche bags. If a majority of the group are douche bags though the best solution is to leave. This has fortunately not happened to me, until today. I was doing ToC and after the jousting I had to switch spec, from dps to tank, switch gear and stance. While I was doing this the Dk decides to pull. Everyone nukes all out, the mobs all over the place, I am still switching stance while trying to pick them up. Mind you I only have one taunt with 6 sec cd (with set). This means it will take 18 sec to get all mobs back from idiots who couldn't tell jack shit apart from a threat table. And as I was doing this one of the dps says "tank wtf are you doing? I have aggro all the time". "Wtf am I doing?" I asked. "Wtf is the dk doing with that moron pull while I am switching spec?". Of course he had aggro! I wasn't even there when he started shooting.
Well of course I couldn't stay in that group. They didn't deserve me, and I felt a warm fuzzy feeling when leaving them, knowing it would only take me 3 sec to find another group and them 15 minutes.
The tankrole is in low supply and high demand. This means when you finally get one you will treat them with utmost respect. They are in fact doing you a favor. You will adapt your dps to function with the tank, and as long as he doesn't suck so madly you wipe on every group of mobs, you keep your mouth shut. People complaining on every little mistake a tank does will -not- encourage people to choose to play a role that is already in limited supply. Especially not when considering how demanding it is to play a tank in comparison to any other class (except healer in some cases).
This will probably be my last post of the year as I am going away for some holidays. I will have some internet access where I'm at though, so if I'm not too busy drinking glögg, eating ham and freezing my ass off I might post some thoughts here before the end of the year.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year Everyone!
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