Thank a Tank (and everyone else) Day
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 9th 2007 at 2:06PM
I find it really interesting how class roles, originally created completely by Blizzard, have been given their own flavor by the people who play them. Take a main tank role, for instance-- sometimes it's the raidleader (although it doesn't have to be), but usually it's someone dedicated to the success of the raid, a person who likes getting their hands dirty, is super knowledgeable about both the bosses and their own gear, and both supports and benefits from (in the form of gold for repairs or first choice on equipment) the entire raid. The main tank (just like the top DPSer or the main healer) is a position created partially by Blizzard, and partially by the people who play it.Donaven (quite randomly) calls today "Thank a Tank Day." Unfortunately, he himself is a tank, so the actual proclamation sounds more like whining about being a tank rather than a sincere thanks for a tank who knows what they're doing, but the thought is noble. Instead of just thanking tanks, how about we thank all players who take a role and fill it out to the best of their ability-- who take a job, whether it be grabbing aggro, laying down damage in the right places, or playing the whack-a-mole game of healing, and do it well and without question.
For all the QQing about PvP and all the crying about how Arena is unbalanced, the best times I have in this game are in PvE situations, where everyone is working together and doing what they're meant to, all the way until the boss' health reaches zero. The main tank plays a huge part in that, by standing where they need to stand, and laying down sunders when it counts. But when a raid is really working together, everyone does what's needed, and that's when it's really great. I'll thank everyone for that.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Warrior, Raiding, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jas Aug 9th 2007 2:26PM
"the best times I have in this game are in PvP situations, where everyone is working together and doing what they're meant to, all the way until the boss' health reaches zero"
Just checking (and it is 4.23AM in AU right now, so maybe going crazy) but did you mean PVE?
Other than that, props to ppl who are good at what they do. Even moreso if they can be modest and nice guys/girls at the same time:)
Arnold Aug 9th 2007 2:43PM
Amen and amen.
Anecdote: I remember when I first started playing WoW, and did my first instance run: The Deadmines. Somehow we got a group going--we had 4 people and eventually got a fifth. We were all new at WoW and were all wearing quest greens/greys. It was a 4 1/2 hour slugfest of doom. Eventually we got to the smelting room, after our nth wipe, one of our people left. One of the people in our group got a friend of his, a mightly level 35 pally to come join us--and wow, that made it go faster. Somehow we even beat VC at the end, I'm still not quite sure how. The whole run was a giant fiasco/disaster--but fun in a way, and it made me want to find out more.
I'm obviously still playing WoW. So her I am, a year and a half later, and recently did a run through Deadmines on some alts. We were lower leveled (but better geared) than that first disaterous run. But all of us were experienced players, and it too about 40 minutes total. It was a lot of fun--but here is where it became relevant to the topic of the post--we had a tank, healer and dps/cc. And we blew right through it. When everyone knows and does their role, it makes everything so much smoother and more fun.
So /hug your tank, and /hug your healer and keep on having fun in your instance run!
Birthmark Aug 9th 2007 2:45PM
No, it's thank a tank day. Not thank everyone day. Thank you prot spec warriors for your sacrifices in game play to get us phat lewtz raid after raid, wipe after wipe, week after week, month after month, year after year, dungeon after dungeon. Without you we can't progress. As a DPS and PvP warrior I understand how much you have to miss out on in order to hold the aggro and survive the dragon swipes.
/salute
Wulfhere Aug 9th 2007 2:47PM
Don't forget the good Prot Spec Pallies and Feral Druids. There aren't many of them (I've hated on pallies plenty of times in the past) but the ones who really know what tanking is all about are just as deserving of thanks.
mxwp Aug 9th 2007 2:48PM
I'd thank a tank... if I could find one. I had to give up on so many instance runs because "LF1M need tank" went unheeded!
Milktub Aug 9th 2007 2:50PM
Yeah, I've give it up for all those who do it right.
Special props to those who do it right in the worst possible situations -- I'm thinking specfically of the oom priest who, instead of pouting when the tank pulled early, sucked down some water as fast as possible, chuged a mana potion and ran up to keep the gang alive.
Pingmeister Aug 9th 2007 3:02PM
Just to nitpick from the article:
"I find it really interesting how class roles, originally created completely by Blizzard, have been given their own flavor by the people who play them."
I doubt that Blizzard has had any effect on the standard class roles in a group. Of the MMORPGs I've played the tank, stealth, DPS and Healer classes have been pretty standardized, despite slight variations on names and toolkits.
Darkwarder Aug 9th 2007 3:06PM
Didn't wowinsider do pretty much the same article a month ago? http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/07/03/breakfast-topic-three-cheers-for-warriors/
Wulfhere Aug 9th 2007 3:13PM
No, because not all tanks are warriors, and not all warriors are tanks.
mrkleen Aug 9th 2007 3:27PM
I would settle for:
"Lets not blame the tank for the fact that the entire group is just a mess" day
I would even gladly share this day with a healer.
Redfoot Aug 9th 2007 3:29PM
"9. No, because not all tanks are warriors, and not all warriors are tanks."
...but they should be. ;-) Just kidding.
I see you getting ready to flame me, druid! Put the keyboard down. I'm only playing with you.
Darkwarder Aug 9th 2007 3:43PM
So, yeah, I kinda get that not all warriors are tanks, but having actually read the linked article, I say again, "Didn't wowinsider do pretty much the same article a month ago?"
Wulfhere Aug 9th 2007 3:51PM
And having read it, the fact that everyone who commented only focused on warriors role as tanks when thanking warriors doesn't preclude a separate post that just thanks tanks, be they warriors, pallies or druids.
That first post showed that everyone wants to pigeonhole warriors into the tanking role. I was already aware of that.
Maureen Aug 9th 2007 3:53PM
Must we nitpick about other articles? Have you ever tried to come up with new original content that will please everyone all the time every day? Its tougher than it looks. And trust me I know I do it every day too. So shut up and give the props to the tanks, healers and dps'ers who make your game fun. HOORAY FOR GOOD INSTANCE RUNS AND RAIDS!!!!
Indigo Aug 9th 2007 4:07PM
Cheers for a role that has to have the widest variety of resist and role gear of any, and in the case of warriors, the least ability to earn money to afford it. Mages, warlocks, rogues, and hunters need to carry gear to kill things. Priests, paladins, and druids carry gear for whatever they spec for.
Defense set
High stamina set
Nature resist set
Frost Resist set
Fire resist set
DPS set (lol dps)
+Hit set
And if I'm really lucky with green drops I farm 50g/hour.
Birthmark Aug 9th 2007 4:19PM
Feral druids don't get my respect as tanks. They never will. They don't sacrifice anything to tank. And I just don't like pallys.
If you have a mana bar (or a rune bar *rolleyes*) or have fur... You're not a tank!
Darkwarder Aug 9th 2007 4:28PM
There are situations where non-prot warriors are needed in pve (arms anyway), but it's kinda rare. So the first article thanking warriors really would trend towards thanking tanks. The role of arms and fury in pve groups and raiding, well...let's just say I've never seen a call over LFG for arms and fury warriors.
I don't disagree that warriors own multiple sets of armor, but they are definitely not the only ones. Most pallies and pallies I know carry at least two sets of armor (dps/tanking and healing). As a resto/feral druid, I carry three: a tanking, dps, and healing set.
Plate costs more to repair than leather, no doubt, but on most non-wipes, squishies tend to die alot more, then add the reagents total. So, non-tanks aren't getting off that easy.
And, is farming/grinding for a tank really that much worse than farming/grinding for a healer? Sounds pretty miserable either way.
crsh Aug 9th 2007 4:56PM
"No, it's thank a tank day. Not thank everyone day. Thank you prot spec warriors for your sacrifices in game play to get us phat lewtz raid after raid, wipe after wipe, week after week, month after month, year after year, dungeon after dungeon."
Heh, imo tanks should thank healers for keeping them up, there's nothing a meat shield can do by him/herself without a lot of healin' love.
Frickin' prima donnas.
Ryan Aug 9th 2007 5:53PM
Hmm, those orc shoulder pads are WAY to big.
Gyr Aug 9th 2007 10:38PM
@15 - Hey, Indigo, the rest of us tanking are in the same boat as you, trust me. I'm a feral druid with the classic 47/14 tanking spec and I have a general tank set, DPS cat gear (which blows because I'm almost invariably grouped with a rogue and guess who gets priority? And should?), shadow resist gear, fire resist gear, offspec healing gear, spec healing gear (Tree of Life aura being based on what is otherwise the most garbage stat in the game, spirit), and boomkin gear. I don't have other resist gear right now because shadow and fire are primarily what I need to be tanking the Outland 5-mans. I love warriors, mate, but you will get little sympathy from druids over issues concerning bag and bank space....
Tanks shouldn't be fighting each other anyway (and not just because we take forever to die). We should be joining hands, and singing Kumbaya with our healers, and hollering ourselves hoarse at the lolDPS instead.
- Gyr