[blaxshep]

I am writing this thread mostly for the new tanks out there. I myself am one of them. This is my first toon and I am currently lvl 69 and using the a max threat variation 9/5/46. I am in a realatively new guild and I am their main tank, even though we have 15 70s I am the sole Prot Warrior.

You will play alot of instances with random people and this can be very discouraging sometimes when the group just doesn't work well together or even worse when there is a "Jerk" in the group. I swear some people just can't relax and realize that this is a game and it is supposed to be fun. I have had people leave the group on the first wipe. Bad pulls wipes etc happen, that is part of the game. We try to avoid them but what fun would the game be if you won every instance without any challenges?

The worst people are actually quite abusive. I have been called a F-ing idiot and the worst tank ever buy someone in a group and was kicked after the first wipe. This group was 3 - 70s a 69 and I was 67 at the time. The group was so bad we couldn't get past the first few mobs. I was quite discouraged and questioning my abilities, trying to pinpoint what I did wrong and how to fix my problems when not even 15 minutes later I was asked to Tank the instance again buy another group. This group was all high 60s and this time around we kicked arse. Not only did we finish the instance but someone quit halfway through so we 4 manned it only wiping once on the main Boss.

Another time after being kicked because I sucked, I got in another group with NO HEALER and we finished the instance with only 2 wipes. I have also seen other members being assulted. I had a rouge in a party that wasn't getting high enough DPS for a certain DPS warrior, so he became very verbaly abusive and then left the group, so don't think it's just the tanks that get blamed. Healers get their share too.

The point of this thread is just to say, don't get discouraged or let some jerk question your game. Look back at what happened and see where you could have done better, but realize sometimes there is nothing you can do to make everyone think you are the best tank in the game. Your just not going to be able to tank 12 mobs or unexpectedly argoed Pats from way behind your party in the other room or Thunder clap agro from a hunter or an arcane blasting mage.

Fight on!

[Sirq]

Think the problem with grouping up with higher lvl players is that they think they're superior, so they just nuke away giving the 'lesser' (If I may) tank not a chance to build threat.
I myself flame quite alot when there are some PuG failing in my group and I'm not hard on kicking some1, even if it would mean to continue 4manning, instances aren't that hard, look at Ramparts HC - i've 3manned it so often.. it's just really easy, especially if yer geared, but aside from that.
Just play alot of instances and your skiel will crank up especially if you look at what you do wrong or.. good and how to improve it, giving criticism to yourself is a good thing.

[radaragon]

[qoute]

The point of this thread is just to say, don't get discouraged or let some jerk question your game. Look back at what happened and see where you could have done better, but realize sometimes there is nothing you can do to make everyone think you are the best tank in the game. Your just not going to be able to tank 12 mobs or unexpectedly argoed Pats from way behind your party in the other room or Thunder clap agro from a hunter or an arcane blasting mage.

Fight on![/quote]

I think many tanks have experiences what you have. I know I have, and I am sure I will again. The worst of it is when it’s from your own guild mates, “The ones who know better than you, because they heard it from someone else.”

The best way to react is focus, learn from your mistakes and move on. Besides, you are a tank and can take a little aggro.

[automatics]

I have had many pug experiences both good and bad. However the bad ones can be an emotional drain and really destroy the fun of the game and it is hard to let them go sometimes.

I welcome constructive criticism from geared players who might know better, and take it as an opportunity to better myself, but more often than not you just get total jerks who probaby suck and are just repating something somebody said to them.

For the most part I am lucky to run stuff mostly with my guild with the exception of a pickup here and there. We can communicate strat's over vent and really work together so the instances go alot better. Also we generaly put together the perfect group for the insatnce with the necessary group comp.

Then there are just the elitest snobs, our guild went to finish off the second half of kara, and we picked up some shadow priest who then typed, guys I armoryed the tanks and, looking at the other dps I just don't think you guys have the gear.

Well we 6 manned our way through chess event (shade and ilhoof were killed on a prior day) and 7 manned our way through prince trash, picked up a few more dps who logged on and 2 shot prince, due to a bad infernal the first try.

Make friends in the game and stick with them, if your a tank get to know as many people as possible so you can cherry pick your groups. There is nothing worse than trying to tank for a group that is not letting you do your job, and placing the blame on you.

[Gromblee]

I have had more than my share of bad experiences in PUG's mostly due to the fact that my casual guild is a little too casual (but it is family after all). I have been abused, kicked from groups and praised all in the span of an hour. Some groups do not "gel" and some groups are just a bad mix. The bad groups are still a big drain and often prompt me to log and go do something else for a while and cool down. I am still trying to gear up properly for Kara and still find Heroics difficult so I get a lot of "heat" from mostly geared folks that do not want to spend the time to help a tank get gear.....so that makes gear hard to come by as I got most of the easy to get stuff. My healer is much easier to play at times although I have healed for some truly bad tanks.

[Bodasafa]

I havent been in a PUG in over 2 yrs because im in a guild with alot of members. Finding a good larger guild can make grinding heroics or lvln up in instnaces so much more enjoyable. I never do a run unless its with guildies or close friends of guildies.

But before that I went through plenty of what the OP described.

Take what ppl say with a grain of salt. If your a tank and a pure tank at that in this stage of the game you know what your doing. It may need some fine tuning along the way. But playing a tank seriously requires more research and math than any other class. If your on this site, your moving in the right direction. Here I have found and shared some of the best advice Ive seen anywhere.