Where do you find "The Love"?

[Gregorius]

I play almost all for the social factor. The explorer in me plays a role, but I'm really having fun when hanging out with people. I haven't played much since I feel like it'll be a waste when my brother moves out to law school and takes his level 60 warrior and the rest of the account with him. I'll certainly be back, and ready to play with not totally random people (like, probably some character on Stormrage).

I've played every character some, and I have definitely decided that I don't like DPS roles. I guess the main thing is that it seems so much more fun in every other game I play. I don't mind tanking roles (in fact, I like them in decent groups) for the most part, but I don't like being equipment dependent like warriors are.

I love healing. Partially because people are always willing to go with a healer, but mostly because I relish the job. Rescuing the party from doom is one heck of a thrill. I also hate dying when solo, which makes healers a great choice too. Plus, I am pretty darn confused by all the spells and attacks that Mages, Warlocks and Rogues have.

[Rorvik]

What am I getting at?  Earlier this week I was in a Razorfen Downs run and I found myself feeling bored and useless.  Well, bored's too strong a word - I was entertained - but it felt like I was on autopilot.  My contribution to the group as a Warlock was minimal at best.  I didn't have to worry about cursing to prevent fleeing mobs because none of them there were runners, so I became mostly a DPS monkey.  I've played Warlocks a lot, so I'm long past the novelty stage with the class (something that I might experience as a rogue or hunter since I've never taken them above 20).  It seemed like had I popped on a television or something to watch that while playing (and thus divided my attention), it wouldn't have made any significant difference in how our battles went.

The level of concentration of play required when playing primary tank and primary healer is, bar none, much higher - unless you're zerging an instance or are overleveled.  This helps to keep play from being monotonous when grouping.  I rarely EVER felt bored playing my Priest to 60 in groups, due to the pressure of healing duties, and whenever I've tanked instances with Warriors I've really enjoyed getting into the flow of controlling battle pacing.  I feel more IN to the action, and less like a bystander who's helping out.[right][snapback]82197[/snapback][/right]

Yes. That is a very common issue with these sorts of games. Diablo II at one point had the same issue with necros, who in a group basically sat back and applied curses.

This is an issue I've thought about for over ten years because I keep seeing it. If I had to come up with a solution, its that there should not be a classic "tank" class per se. The way to get everyone involved is to have it where all classes can tank (except healers) depending on what mob class they are fighting.

For example, let's have a "soul drainer" class. They kill you by first draining all your mana and once all of it is gone then you are instantly dead. This type of mob must be tanked by a spell caster, since a warrior with little/no mana will be killed instantly. Think of it as this mob will just outsmart a warrior, so a warrior cannot go toe-to-toe with it.

Another mob class may deal 4x damage to players, but normal damage to pets. This mob should be tanked by a hunter or a class that uses minions who manages his pets to fight.

So then you set up a dungeon where you have a mixture of mob classes. Some are best tanked by warriors, spell casters, and those who use pets. That way no one class is totally useless and/or bored.