Forum post of the Day: Tank shortage
In World of Warcraft if you want to find a group, roll a tank. Tanks are hard to find and good tanks are worth their weight in gold, even Tauren tanks. Goosesausage of Cenarius posted some suggestions he believes might resolve the current lack of meat shields. He suggests that non-protection specialized Warriors would be capable of tanking if the Sunder Armor buff was tweaked a bit.
The poster reported that he has a hard time finding heroic groups since his warrior character is currently specced for DPS. To resolve this issue, Goosesausage suggested that removing the cost of changing one's specialization might resolve the issue. I both agree and disagree with this suggestion. True it's pretty expensive to switch back and forth from prot to DPS and back regularly, but thanks to daily quests money is not nearly as short as it once was. Just make sure you do your grinding before you spec to prot. Even if there was no respeccing fee, tanks would need to acquire two sets of gear.
The rest of the thread discussed strategies for tanking and whether or not there is, in reality a tank shortage and strategies for being successful as a tank. As a healer, I certainly always begin searching for a group by looking for a tank. It's always a bummer to gather together three DPS and have to disband because a tank search is fruitless over time.
Barb Dybwad posted a Breakfast Topic on the custom of tipping tanks. Responses seemed to be split. Many believed it was appropriate to tip them enough to help pay for the repair bill. Others expressed that is absurd to tip anyone for playing their role in an instance, since they all have important things to do.
If there is a tank shortage, what should be done about it?
