So I’ve written before about my philosophy of the Great Tank. I think that a great MT needs not only skills, but a streak of asshole to whip people into shape and keep them in line.
I do not think this is a trait you want in your healers.
No I don’t.
The ideal healer is basically your mom. Someone who loves you unconditionally, perhaps irrationally, despite your flaws and frequent screw-ups. We have these healers in our guild, and in my 10-man group, and we just love them to death. I don’t understand them mind you, but I’m grateful for them. They’re the ones who, when someone gets hit by the lava wave in Sartharion, apologize afterward for not keeping them alive. They have this great sense of personal responsibility for the health and well being of everyone in the raid.
Where you or I would just giggle at someone being fried for not moving out of an aoe zone (that’s not just me is it?) these healers feel they are letting people down by not keeping them alive through their idiotic mistakes. It’s a different way of thinking. Like the way benevolent aliens might think, perhaps.
Another example: in our 10-man we walk into Naxx and start buffing. One person drops a fish feast — which she also drops after every wipe and any time it’s about to wear off. Another person hands out appropriate flasks to everyone present. These crazy people don’t get the mats from the guild or anything – they’re farming it up themselves. It is not a coincidence that they are both healers. Healers are just like that.
I don’t think this is a case of function following form. I think you just have to be that kind of person, and that kind of person is more likely to move into the healer role.
I don’t understand it myself. The whole notion of patience, tolerance, and so-called “emotions” like “caring” are something a bit beyond my ken. But thank goodness they exist. Because without them we’d all be dead.
Agree with your comment 100%. With a good healer, your mission goes great.
Then you have Gevlon at Greedy Goblin (who heals raids)…how do you explain that?
This is pretty close to how our healers behave too, although, like my own Mother, they do bring a bit of Tough Love to the game. Players that continue to do stupid things suddenly find themselves no longer getting heals, especially if they are the type of player who aggros everything within sight.