Tanks

I mentioned before that I sometimes don't like tanks. It happens much less than with DPSers, but still...


Healer's Log 20160801. Lost Island.

Apóstle is his name. 1st off, his name irritates me. It's the apostrophe. I often see names with that. People seem to resort to such nonsense when they really, absolutely, have got to got to GOT TO have that name -- but it's already taken. Rather than accepting things the way they are and moving on with their lives in a healthy and mature fashion, they try to have their cake and eat it too by using a special character on one or more of the letters, just enough to make it unique, so that the server accepts the name.

Look, Folks -- the name you want is taken. We all, at many points in our lives, must deal with disappointment. How we do so reveals our strength of character.

And if that doesn't deter you from making such a name, then let's get down to a more practical level: it discourages interaction. It's difficult to type those special characters on the fly; sometimes impossible. For example, if someone wants to friend or whisper you, they'll need to click on your name in the chat window or receive a /w from you first. It's cumbersome and inconvenient.

If I were a server admin, I'd ban names with special characters. Alas, nobody listens to me.

Anyway ... Apóstle. He's a skillful tank. Notice I didn't say "good" -- I said "skillful". That means that he knows how to play his class, he understands the tactics of the fights he's in and he has the self-confidence to lead a PUG. That normally indicates a good tank.

But to truly be "good", you need a bit more. Apóstle's problem is that he's so skillful that he believes he has license to tell others how to do their jobs.

I'm all for "helpful suggestions on how I may improve." It's one of the ways I learn. But if you ever try to dictate to me, in painful detail, how I "should play my class", telling me which sage healing thingy is better than the other, what my rotation of them should be, where I should stand when I cast this one and to where I should move when I do that one ... then I am immediately afflicted with "situational deafness". That means that, although you may still be talking and I may seem to listen, I am, in fact, not. It's a defense mechanism I use to keep my brain from leaking out my ears when someone rambles on about things that I have already painstakingly calculated where among others, I analyze FPH (force per heal) and HPS (heal per second), where I map out how Ability 1 procs Ability 2 which may then proc Ability 3 on every 3rd Tuesday except during a Leap Year, when it will also proc Ability 4, but only if there's a pretty girl in the group, unless her hair is too short ... and tested all of it in countless situations across all FPs.

Not only does Special-Character-Boy do that -- he also blames me for the wipe.

His main must be a DPS.