Why do you enjoy tanking?

[Geckoo]

sadomasochism

[schwank05]

I had never tanked until DS, and I pretty much tanked all of this Xpac off and on. I will be playing Fat Panda BRM tank next xpac for sure.

I guess I just like being on the front lines, as a BRM I do like 200K DPS on average so I am a decent dps as well as like 30K HPS so I cover all roles. I like to feel like a giant badass.

[Lessthanzer0]

i like to group up with some guildies and go to the timeless isle, find some eternal kilnmasters (the ones with the repetitive frontal cone attack) and then when my friends aren't paying attention, i point him at them and watch them get one shot. like others have said....i like to be in control. i can keep people alive or if i feel like it i can let them die. it gives a good laugh every now and then.

[banur]

If i tank, i can set the tempo for the group. I really like that, since i dislike slow tanks when i'm dps or healer.

Nothing bugs me more than slow tanks. There is nothing wrong with a slow pace if it is required, but overgearing a dungeon and then pulling one pack at a time and waiting for them to be dead before continuing?
Trying to push the limit is why I enjoy tanking when I tank, but mostly I'm the healer at the back - heh, or front - enabling the next big pull.

[Deleted]

The responsibility of the role is a big factor for me. Knowing I hold a lot of the groups success in my hands is something I thrive on.

The reactive and proactive gameplay of being a tank is also really fun. Much like a healer, we work reactively and proactively, anticipating what bosses will do and when they will do it. That's really fun. Playing a DD class feels more... static in comparison.

[Tinykong]

Tanking has been this expansions meta-game, the previous expansion healers had that distinction. Active mitigation is one of the best things they've brought to the game, and really separates bad tanks from good tanks.

[Yousend]

I used to love tanking so much more than current expansions. To me, tanking has always been about multitasking; keeping yourself alive while maximizing your threat to allow your DPSers to maximize theirs (AKA being a glorified DPS as I like to call it).

Cataclysm kind of killed that feeling for me with Vengeance making threat irrelevant... Sure I can do more DPS now and that's fun and all, but threat management has always been something more fun because you had to perform to let others perform.

Active mitigation is something I dislike, its mostly the current implementation of it where you basically want to hit shield block on cooldown... (Warrior tank, I don't know anything about other tanks) I don't see how those mechanics are considered fun in their current implementation, however I do prefer the prot Warrior gameplay to Fury or Arms, so I remain a tank... Also using cooldowns reactively as well as having to manage using them proactively is always something I liked.

PS: Tanks should have to deal with fight mechanics while not tanking. It sucks not having to deal with any fixate or anything special...

[Spoonman]

The way i see it is that Tanking bring the leadership role, a lot of GMs were always tanks back in the days aswell as they still are in Paragon(Sejta) and Method(Sco)
Thats why i kinda like it abit even tho my tank is an alt. Ure the frontman of the team kinda directing were to go.

Tanking comes with responsibilty aswell, if 1 tank sucks the rest of the team will notice it directly compared to if 1 dps isnt good enough.

[Sansnom]

Tanking is something that I never really got into and I'm curious why people like it.

Might actually delve into it a little since I'm killing time till WoD. =)

It is fun and different. It is not that daunting.

The biggest problem you will face is other people's attitude. I am not the best tank in the world so would only tank with friends because they are more understanding if there is a wipe. I would certainly recommend giving it a goal.

[McNeil]

All kind of different reasons. I love the mobility as a protection warrior, I like setting up the tempo of the group, I like having a large amount of health and stuff. I've played as a DPS on a lot of classes on level 90, but only some of them I found actually enjoyable but not as enjoyably as playing a tank. I've never actually healed on 90, thats something I try to do before WoD launches.

[Deleted]

I only ever tank in Dungeons mainly because I don't like the way tanks are treated in LFR if they make a mistake, I'm not willing to go there.

I like tanking 5 mans, (especially when leveling!) Because I'm able to set the pace of the instance run and also decide what to pull and when. (Except when you get a healer that complains about actually having to do something of course) Brewmaster tanking especially I find very fun gameplay and it's more enjoyable tanking dungeons than dpsing them in my opinion.

[Deleted]

i liked it because it was a role of responsability.
i stopped tanking when they become dps with defensive cds

[dryankem]

I only ever tank in Dungeons mainly because I don't like the way tanks are treated in LFR if they make a mistake, I'm not willing to go there.

I like tanking 5 mans, (especially when leveling!) Because I'm able to set the pace of the instance run and also decide what to pull and when. (Except when you get a healer that complains about actually having to do something of course) Brewmaster tanking especially I find very fun gameplay and it's more enjoyable tanking dungeons than dpsing them in my opinion.

That's sort of how I look at it, will do the occasional dungeon but I feel there is too much pressure on LFR tanks to know everything.

[IKT]

I have a big internet ego.

[rystrave]

I like being in control of the situation.

[Shamanberry]

I like seeing the game from a different perspective.

A large number of fights have unique jobs for individuals that deviate greatly from the usual job that everybody is doing on the fight, and while sometimes that involves assigning a DPS or healer to do it, more often than not, it ends up being the tank(s). I've always enjoyed mixing it up on fights and not just doing the same thing every time - so kiting adds, soloing bloodrage, piloting constructs, etc, etc. Even when there's not some unique mechanic, tanks tend to have their own "niche" in the fight that I enjoy getting to figure out those side games while everyone else is working on the more "obvious" aspects of fights.

Plus for my guild, it's nice being one of the tanks because I know I'm a reliable raider that will be there every night, so I'll never have to worry about raid comps. Also, I know that I'm one of the people that will never be shy about calling out important fight mechanics as they come up, and being a tank gives me a good perspective to do that kind of thing on (particularly when out raid leader is a healer and has an entirely different set of things to worry about).

Of course, it could also just be that I played DPS for 4 iterations of WoW before this one, and the change has just been welcome.

[Deleted]

Call me Nostalgic but I used to love tanking back in TBC and early wrath.

When the dungeon had challenging mob packs, pulls and patrols all of which required a bit of thought and group planning.

When a tank's job was to hold threat (yes it still is but theres no effort required now).

When AoE would break CC and required careful positioning (Gathering casters with no ranged interrupt and without pulling more mobs.)

When taunting was melee range only and could miss.

When tanking more than 4 mobs at a time was a display of skill (Healer dependant but holding more than 4 mobs was quite tricky when thunderclap only hit 4 targets and mobs hit like bulldozers).

When team coordination and communication was vital to a pull. When team coordination and communication allowed you to avoid accidental body pull wipes.(Remember when sap broke stealth and all CC aggro'd a pack?)

When Damage dealing classes knew their job wasn't just to deal damage but they had the added responsibility of managing their own aggro so as not to exceed the tank. (A tanks job was to generate as much aggro as possible but was only responsible for keeping mobs off the healer, The philosophy our guild used when training new recruits in heroics ), they knew to watch out for patrols, accidental pulls and CC breaks.

I didn't enjoy tanking raids as much as i enjoyed 5mans (raid tanking rather dull imo), I didn't tank for the glory or the respect that came from the role. I tanked because it was the most challenging role (imo) in a very challenging enviroment and it was as much fun as it was stressful.

[TheWindWalker]

I just like the idea of having to focus on surviving the battle as much as damaging my enemy. As a DPS you rarely have reason to care about your own survival outside of raid-wide damage periods or explosions. The DPS is usually a glass cannon and dies when attacked face-to-face. The Tank gets slammed by the apocafist, spits out a tooth and says "Thank you, sir. May I have another?" before punching said creature in their royal satchel.

[land]

I like to play my tanks because I have fun playing them. I like how active mitigation makes you a better tank if u can handle it properly, same goes for cds usage etc. Don't play it as my MS though, its mostly for the fun factor of doing something different than dpsing or healing.

[Voidism]

I like being able to survive a lot of crap. Especially in great AoE situations. Also, lots of vengeance is fun. :3

Thinking of tanking LFR but... no. :3

edit: oh, and soloing <3