Gear is absolutely not the issue. The community is 100% the issue… er, okay, more like ~75% of the issue but certainly the majority of the issue.
The tanking problem is not something that can just be “fixed” mechanically like you suggest, the tanking problem is that the player base expects perfection and does not create an environment for tanks to learn. No one wants to take the time to teach a tank what to do because everyone has the mindset of their personal time being most important. (Obviously not literally everyone, but most the players even in low keys. I saw a group expecting 460 ilvl for a M0 today. You can say “Well, they just want a fast run” and to that I say “Exactly! That is the problem mindset that is dominant”)
This issue keeps coming up again, and again, and again and every time I see people trying to point the finger at in game mechanics, gearing, everything except what the real problem is. The community.
Anyone who wants to get into tanking is EXPECTED to do far more studying than any other role due to needing to know the pathing and how to tank ON TOP of also having many of the same duties that DPS have such as coordinating interrupts and such. Tanks have by far the most on their platter and are expected to know everything about what they are doing else are not given the time of day.
On top of that they are treated like dirt and often the first to blame when things go wrong. There are several mechanics in M+ dungeons that can make it look like the tank is chunking in health/not performing their job well if DPS and others do not interrupt or pay attention and it often leads to garbage DPS calling out the tank. Tanks and Healers often get the short in the of the stick.
So what ends up happening is you have people interested in tanking who have to put up with far more trash from the community than other roles and their either quit tanking because its far too stressful or find a dedicated group to run with that are not complete jerks and play EXCLUSIVELY with people they know.
The community is 100% to blame for the tank shortages, not some arbitrary thing like “Oh, its gearing, if gearing was made easier then there would be more tanks!” or the other community favorite of “If there were more tank specs/every class had a tank spec then that would solve the tanking shortage!” Its not just something that can be fixed purely mechanically and the mechanical parts that do need to be fixed are not the number of tank specs or loot.
Gearing isn’t the problem, period. Before Vulpera came out and I made the switch to Shaman I EASILY maintained a Healing, Tanking, and DPS sets on my Paladin. It was not an issue and its certainly not the problem with the tank shortage.
The only way for the Tank shortage to end is for the community to be better and I don’t see that happening any time soon.
But lets say that for a second the community does change. Do you know what the second biggest issue is?
Tanks are the LEAST needed role! How many tanks do you need for a raid? 2, a fixed 2 outside of world crazy, top 1%, world first guild strats. No matter how big or small a raid group, tanks are fixed at 2 for a raid and some times even get cut down to one when content is on farm. Raid gets bigger, DPS and Healer requirements go up but tanks never really change. You never go from having a 2 tank raid of 10 people to a 3 tank raid of 15 people or a 4 tank raid of 20, ect. Tanks are static, DPS and Heals are variable.
How about this. How many tanks are needed in Dungeons? Only ever 1. Sure, healers are only ever one as well but because other sections of the PvE environment require more there is more of a surplus.
How many Tanks are needed in non dungeon/raiding PvE content? How many Tanks are needed in PvP environments?
Surely you see where I am going with this. So even if the community were to be nicer and more helpful to new Tanks, the one actual “mechanical” issues is the fact that the game just does not need as many tanks as other roles! Tanks are still by far the least required in numbers by a much wider margin in all aspects of the game.
Pair that with the first issues mentioned fact that tanks require the most study/preparation and there are just so many turn offs.
Those are the two biggest issues behind why we lack so many Tanks. Not that gearing is burdensome, that’s honestly such a non-issue compared to the other mentioned issues.
Heck, I personally loved playing Tank! If Shaman had a Tank spec I would probably rather Tank than DPS just because I personally enjoy it.