I’m not really sure what else to say that isn’t encompassed in the title of my topic, and that hasn’t been expressed eloquently by far better players than myself on these forums. There is something inherently wrong with a class when they are sitting at 1200+ rio and applying to groups for upwards of an hour or more and cannot sniff an invite into 14+ keys as a dps. I’ll say it again, devs, FIX US.
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I wouldn’t say its Shamans specifically, in fact Shamans probably have it a lot better than many other classes.
People are probably looking for a Mage/Hunter most of the time or someone of the relevant covenant. There are tons of people queuing, and if you are DPS pugging there are probably 60 other DPS applicants many of which are what people see in things like the MDI. Happens all the time when my group pugs in 1 DPS, everyone and their grandma is coming out to try and get into the 14+ key.
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We pugged a DPS about 8 days ago for a 14 SoA (we usually just do full guild runs). So many applicants we could choose from. From the MDI meta-class 
to the player that’s pushing higher keys that just wants to shore up their vault choices. You are really spoiled for choices and can be picky. We went with a Warlock that was a DPS beast (was up to doing 17 keys).
It’s not a Shaman specific issue and I’ve seen plenty of complaints from other classes with the common factor being they’re all DPS.
Without encouraging more tanks/healers, I doubt this will change and the only advice, which I know isn’t especially useful, is to try running your own keys. A lot easier if you’re buddies with a healer/tank.
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Imagine if they encouraged more tanks into the game by giving the classes asking for a tank spec a tank spec…instead of adding an entirely new class to learn and then wondering why its not helping the tank queues.
Small Indie Company.
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Eh, I doubt it’ll work. I mean they’ve been adding multiple tanks and the issue hasn’t really gone away; Classic/TBC DPS struggled finding a group in Chat, LFD simplified the wait, but the wait time is quite large. Who remembers gearscore? Same issue there too.
The problem has been around a very long time and it’s either not solvable, or not solvable in a way Blizzard wants to solve it (make raids use more tanks to encourage more tank mains, as an example).
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We have plenty of tank specs.
We don’t have plenty of tank PLAYERS.
Tanking sucks. Bad. SL tanking is the worst permutation of the role in the history of the game.
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Players like me don’t play alts, give me a tank spec for my class and I’ll play it.
There are thousands of players who just play one or two classes who don’t have the option of tanking.
Tanking sucks? That’s subjective and your opinion.
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That’s not quite how it works. You would get a small percentage of people playing the class as DPS or heals that use the new tank spec, but something Blizzard figured out after the 3rd new tank spec is, people will only tank if they want to. You aren’t really creating new tanks, just giving people that want to do so more options. People didn’t automatically start loving melee just because they changed survival.
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If you give classes asking for a tank spec for the last 10+ years a tank spec, you will find more tanks in queue because those people will play that tank spec. Whether this is a large or small number, it’s still new tanks entering the queue.
These people, who have indentified themselves as wanting to tank on those classes, are less likely to learn a newly introduced class that can tank because they are more interested in tanking through the aesthetics of their existing class rather than learning a new one from the ground up to tank.
If I could play a shaman themed tank, I would…immediately. Because I love the shaman class.
Similarly I imagine there are people who play hunter (a class that also historically has asked for a tank spec) or have played Rexxar in HotS that would also tank on their hunter. Warlock is the same, as they have asked for a tank spec ever since mage-tankjng Gruuls Lair in TBC.
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There isn’t anything saying they don’t already play other tank specs. Tanks asking for more specs doesn’t equate to lots more tanks. It’s just a more diverse pool of tank classes. DKs, monks, and DHs haven’t changed the amount of tanks drastically (outside of leveling content). If a person wants to tank, they aren’t going to wait for a new tank spec, they will just tank. Like I said before, you will have people trying out the new thing(s), but a new tank spec isn’t going to make people that dislike tanking want to do it.
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Again, the people asking to tank on specific specs aren’t the people who will be interested in re-rolling and re-learning a new class just to tank.
Just like I dislike healing, I will play restoration for a faster queue to get my daily done. If I could tank as a shaman, I would use that spec instead.
The only way you get people who dislike tanking to enjoy tanking, is by iterating on how you tank. Whether that’s a new class, or a spec for a class asking to tank, the end result is the same. You are adding tanks into the queue.
At least you know the people asking for the tank spec will tank over their current dps/heal specs.
The benefit of adding 4th spec tanks is that these players understand their base class kit already, and don’t need to spend the time leveling to 60, thus getting into the queue faster.
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Alrighty then. The past shows us what new tank specs do to the pool. Keep fighting that fight, though. I’m done explaining history.
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No…the past shows us what new classes do to the pool. They have never added a tanking spec to a new class that didn’t already have one (druid had a tank spec until it was pulled into a separate tree).
That’s not how it works. ESO every class can tank and heal. Both are more difficult to find than DPS, because people don’t want to tank. FF14 people can change to a tank spec at any point, but it is still difficult to find a tank. Same with Rift, same with any MMO in the world. Tanking appeals to certain players. And for the third time, there would be people that tried out the new stuff, and a few might stay (this is the small group you have put yourself in), but there is more to tanking than how the class feels. There are a lot of outside sources that affect it. More tank classes does not equate to more tanks
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You’re wrong on all accounts, bubblies is right. Nuff said
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Except it is how it works.
The people who want to tank on shaman will tank if they are allowed to. The same as people on hunter and warlock.
These people are specifically asking for tank specs in their aesthetic with their class theme and baseline kit.
You are comparing adding a new foreign class that no one has played yet to a pre-existing class and aesthetic.
If someone wants to tank on their shaman, they aren’t going to be interested in tanking as a Demon hunter or a Monk. Especially if the appeal to tanking on the shaman is utilizing the shaman theme.
If people just want to tank, to tank, then yes it doesn’t matter what class they are on. Contrary to popular belief, class fantasy still plays a massive part in why people play specific classes.
Shaman would be completely dead if not for people enjoying the class fantasy because it sure as heck isn’t topping any of the boards in any 3 of the specs.
Which is why I’m not advocating for more CLASSES. I’m advocating for more SPECS.
Furthermore, its significantly less work to add a new tank spec to an existing class, than to add an entirely new tank spec to an entirely new class.
Adding new specs will guarantee new tanks, even if the number is small. Thus, more tanks in the queue.
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In the same essence, I enjoy playing the tanking classes, but I don’t tank. Anecdotal evidence is just that. What we can look at, beyond the small pool of forum goers, is that more tanks hasn’t changed anything. Making a shaman tank will not dramatically change queue times for DPS. Bringing up shaman being trash, the population is extremely low in general, and you’ve already established changing classes is out of the scenario, based on what you said about people not wanting to learn a current tank spec. The numbers aren’t adding up to real change.
Also, adding a new tank spec to a class that didn’t have a tank spec before creates a new tank class.
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Any argument you make is simply invalid, because THEY HAVEN’T TRIED MY SUGGESTION YET.
Until they do, we have no way of knowing how many more tanks will join the queue. But we do know that the people who have requested tanks for those classes, will try the new tank spec.
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Lololol, ok, just trying to disprove a negative I see. I say your point is invalid because they will never do it, so the whole arguement is pointless.
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You are arguing a negative as well by saying something that hasn’t happened yet, won’t change anything.
We have people outright stating they will play Shaman tanks, with countless threads theorycrafting how they personally would implement them.
Look at my post history - I will openly admit where I am wrong — but you are trying to tell me that people asking for a shaman tank spec won’t play it if it becomes a reality, which is just false. They have specifically said they would, thus increasing tanks in queue…even if its just 1 person.