If you’ve never seen the random dungeon finder interface in WoW, this is what it looks like. You can choose which instance you want to queue for – or let the system pick a random heroic for you, as is shown here. And you tick the little circles next to the shield, plus sign or sword to show whether you want to queue as a tank, healer, or dps. If you play a hybrid who can perform more than one role, then you can tick more than one box.
This isn’t rocket science. If you tick the box it means you are willing to play that role in whichever instance you are queuing for.
Then when the system is able to match you up with an instance group, you get this little window which shows clearly which role has been assigned to you.
Again, it’s all very clear and not very difficult. And at every stage, if you change your mind you can leave the queue and there’s no harm done. You won’t even get the usual 30 minute dungeon leaver debuff which forbids you from queuing again until it has run out.
Because tanks and healers tend to get shorter queues, you’ll hear a lot of stories about people who queued as a role which they weren’t able to play (either through lack of gear, lack of appropriate spec, or just lack of interest). But usually those guys bail on you at the start of the instance, or get one of their mates to drop from the group so that when the 4-man group re-queues to get a replacement, they can sneakily change the role they queued as.
But what about someone who decides halfway through an instance run that they don’t want to heal any more? I was in a group this week with one of my alts where the healer had been getting increasingly bolshier and more agitated. He’d been healing fine – regular heroics these days just aren’t remotely demanding.
But for whatever mad reason, he decided that he’d had enough. He whined at the dps shaman to switch to healing. He whined at the tank to switch to healing and the dps warrior to switch to tanking. He kept telling the rest of the group that he was really dps.
Then he just switched spec between pulls without mentioning anything so no one was healing, which inevitably led to a wipe. This was the point where I started a vote to boot him, which duly happened.
The strange thing? We were right next to the final boss of the instance. If he’d just sucked it up for a couple more minutes, he’d have had his badges and could have done whatever he wanted afterwards. The group did fine, we got another healer in a few seconds, who was delighted to have such a quick badge run. But although I try to understand what is going on in other players’ minds when they do something that seems odd to me, with this one I have no clue.
Welcome to Spinksville! 
It’s baffling for sure, but still perfectly in line with the overall pugging trend of people wanting instant gratification in every regard and reacting negatively if they don’t get it (leave if the first boss didn’t drop their weapon, leave after one wipe, pull for the tank if he hesitates for three seconds, vote to kick someone on a whim etc.). Clearly this guy wanted a group NOW, which is why he queued as healer, but once he was healing he wanted to dps NOW because healing was boring. And no, of course he couldn’t continue for another couple of minutes just to complete the instance, because that wouldn’t be FUN. Pug logic.
Me favorites is the ones what queue up as tank, but cain’t even be bothered ta put on any tanking gear. Just die twice on trash, then say “Yeah, I guess I can’t tank. Will someone else do it?”
I’ve seen remarkably few people queueing for a role they cannot perform. Well, not counting those DKs who THINK they can tank but simply CAN’T.
I will say, though, that after tanking every heroic on all 4 tanking classes – I’m done with it for awhile. My Warrior queues as DPS as often as not. My Druid and Paladin heal. My Death Knight doesn’t have any DPS gear, but I finally setup a DPS SPEC last night, so maybe he’ll stop tanking soon.
I can understand wanting to do something else… just not in the middle of a run. 😐
That’s hilarious!
Wow. That close to the end of the zone and he couldn’t be arsed to go on for another couple of minutes?
To me, this actually shows a massive downside to all the versatility of the hybrids and talent specs in WoW.
On the other side of the coin is the run that I was on where the Warrior tank disconnected and I, in Kitty Druid DPS form offered to step up and tank in Bear form. We four-manned the dungeon from there, with only one wipe which I profusely apologized for because I didn’t know the dungeon perfectly and wasn’t really specced to tank.
Versatility isn’t the problem. Idiots are the problem. There’s not much you can do about that.
Yeah, I phrased poorly. Perhaps it would have been better to say that the versatility allows the idiots to screw things up more than they could if they had a specific defined role.
I can totally see the upside of the ability to change your spec midstream in the case of a disconnect, as well as other situations.
That’s weird, wild stuff! I’ve seen people act similarly before. As you wonder what was going through his mind you might consider that all he was thinking was: “I want some chicken fingers, gotta get me some chicken fingers.”
Nothing less than random, irrelevant thoughts can explain that kind of behavior. Dude is wacked!
I’ve definitely seen this before. It’s weird to me, but every so often, the healer decides they’re not healing anymore. Or the tank drops into kitty form and won’t shift back into bear.
Even weirder are the tanks/healers who queue as DPS too, and then get zoned in as dps and won’t switch…. There’s not even a queue problem, so why not just… queue only for the role you want? I had a pally today who wouldn’t change specs and wouldn’t take off righteous fury… when he zoned in as dps. WTF?
I am currently pugging regularly on a pally, a priest, and a shaman. They all have one heal and one dps spec. They all have appropriate gear for both roles. I only queue as heals on my priest and pally, because I don’t want to dps on them. My shammy is flexible because I am trying to learn how to work elemental. Why would I queue for a role I don’t want, when the role I do want is practially an instant queue?
And Tesh: ❤ flexibility of GOOD hybrids.
“leaping from tree to tree…”
When a pug is simply too unbearable to continue, I know now what I will say.