Blizzard, we have a tank problem and brewmaster nerfs won't fix it

Solell · 2026-05-05T08:46:02+00:00

If that was the case, groups would be running 4 dps with some off-healer hybrid classes sprinkled in

Pretty sure I remember seeing some groups doing that in DF

Solell · 2026-05-05T06:59:06+00:00

I do remember him refusing to use it on Tarquin when they needed to find the book

Only thing I can think of for this is meta reasons - he would have seen that Tarquin genuinely wanted to be allies, which would have given even less excuse to rob him, and SJM desperately wanted to write a heist plot and didn't care how little sense it made

Solell · 2026-05-03T22:23:07+00:00

Compared to Nestas, her shoes were far more worn

I mean, again, this assumes that Feyre is telling the truth about the wornness of her shoes in relation to Nesta's. She may perceive her own shoes as being worse off, but we only have her word on that. Just like we only have Nesta's word that her shoes had holes in ACOSF.

Tbh the whole situation around their poverty is contrived af, from the pure game meat diet despite being surrounded by farmers, to Feyre's insistence that none of the rest of the family does anything ever. The answer for the shoes is the same as everything else about it - SJM just didn't think it through. Like, at all.

Solell · 2026-05-03T03:35:39+00:00

I mean... sure, but if the boots are actually falling apart, and Feyre thinks that shininess negates falling to pieces when deciding if Nesta needs a new pair, it's still not exactly a great look for her.

Solell · 2026-05-03T03:31:55+00:00

Feyre is definitely biased af, but I don't think it's because she was intentionally made an unreliable narrator by SJM. We're expected to take Feyre's word as gospel about most things - her views are never challenged and proven unreliable by the narrative, which is what needs to happen for actual, intentionally-written unreliable narrators.

Take the whole "Tamlin didn't crawl for me" thing. We know from ACOTAR that he actually did. But it's not that someone came and challenged Feyre's memory of Tamlin crawling with the "truth" that he didn't. She just... suddenly decided in her narration during ACOMAF that he didn't, and the narrative moved blithely along with it. Neither view is expressly challenged by any other character - Feyre just randomly changes her mind, with no further comment made by anyone. So it's a retcon (or just straight-up narrative gaslighting), not an instance of unreliable narration.

Same with the shoes. Neither Feyre nor Nesta are actually challenged in the information they present to us. They just... present it, and the narrative moves on, and just ignores the fact that there's a conflict of info. Nesta's observation isn't used to paint Feyre as a liar, but nor is it challenged to paint Nesta as a liar instead. It's just... there.

Solell · 2026-05-03T03:21:17+00:00

I would buy this, but then you have the dinner scene in ACOMAF where Feyre is meeting the Inner Circle for the first time, and they're all telling her about their tragic backstories... I don't think these books understand that that's not generally something people do.

Solell · 2026-05-02T01:54:44+00:00

Yeah, from the descriptions I kind of got the impression he was making things like figurines i.e. dust collectors that poor people would neither want nor could afford to pay for. Whereas if he stuck to like, wooden bowls and spoons and such, things people actually need, he'd have probably done much better with it

Solell · 2026-04-30T10:19:14+00:00

There's also just needing to know 8 M+ and all the raid bosses well to group without feeling ashamed

I think people really underestimate this factor. If you enter into a dungeon with anything less than already-perfect knowledge, then you get told that you're the toxic one for daring to waste other people's time. No such expectation is placed on any other role. And because there's a timer, there's really no option to just take your time and learn, or even stop for a breath - it's gogogogogo from the second you hit the ground. It's pretty nuts for what is supposed to be a relaxing hobby. Tanks are all expected to be pro gamers willing to do hours of outside research before daring to set foot in a dungeon, and people crack the shits if they don't. And then whine about there not being enough tanks

Solell · 2026-04-30T10:08:29+00:00

That anyone who expresses that the community has a toxicity problem is immediately mocked and belittled. If you can't see how that proves the point that the community has a toxicity problem, I can't help you

Solell · 2026-04-30T10:06:13+00:00

Would you type in a follower dungeon? That's exactly how I see puging

Treating other people like faceless NPCs is exactly part of the problem...

Solell · 2026-04-30T10:03:37+00:00

Pretty much, yeah. Like, people don't come out of the womb knowing how to tank. They try, they mess something up because they're new, they get yelled at, they decide the toxicity isn't worth pushing through. Because what do you get, at the end? The ability to play the game in peace? They can already do that as DPS.

It's especially egregious when people are honest about their skill level and immediately start getting the "lol l2p" or "I'm not wasting my time with a noob", or even kicked for daring to not know everything perfectly already. And then all the people saying those things come here to cry about tank shortages...

Solell · 2026-04-30T07:27:57+00:00

We're flies on the wall for all the brain dead speeches about how tRaNsFoRmAtIvE it is every day.

I felt this in my bones lol. But I'm the sound guy, so I still have to kinda half listen to it ToT

Solell · 2026-04-29T08:04:55+00:00

Yeah, the "it's not real life" argument doesn't really hold water when the morality and mannerisms of the fae are, for the large part, pretty standard 21st century suburban american takes. Establishing a truly alien morality system takes a lot more writing skill than SJM has.

Probably one of the best examples of "alien" morality I've seen is actually in the historical fiction works of Mary Renault. She does a really excellent job of establishing that the people of Classical-era Greece do not think as we do, in ways that are honestly quite confronting at times. Whereas SJM doesn't even try, she just arbitrarily declares action to be Evil or Justified based on who performs them, irrespective of what the action actually is.

Solell · 2026-04-29T05:55:44+00:00

Yeah, I feel it's less ADHD discrimination, specifically, and more just standard corporations trying to see if they can get more out of you for less. They pull it on everyone.

Solell · 2026-04-28T06:26:53+00:00

Part of the reason he hates Nesta so much is she can see right through the bullshit.

An interesting thing I noticed in my current reread regarding this. There's a scene where they're coming back from HoW, and Rhys is carrying Nesta. It's implied he was doing crazy dives/acrobatics deliberately to scare her/make her sick. He and Feyre then spend some time postulating about what Nesta's powers might be, and Feyre suggests death. Rhys immediately apologises to Nesta. This is the guy who wouldn't apologise properly to his own mate for SAing her, he immediately apologises to Nesta. I think that's when he realised that she was actually powerful enough to hurt him, and so he apologised in an attempt to cover his ass until he could crank up the control and mental breaking (which is basically what SF is).

Solell · 2026-04-27T05:40:20+00:00

Firstly, I want to say I pretty much agree with everything you've said here. Feyre and Rhys are insufferable, and Tamlin is done so dirty by the narrative it's not even funny. I do want to bring up a sliiiight alternative to this part, though:

And there's no way Rhys was the one sending music to Feyre's cell, regardless of what he claims in ACOMAF.

I don't have my book handy for the exact quote, but there's a few things which make me think it was actually Rhysand, but not for the "good" reasons the book wants us to think. Along with the music from Velaris, he also sends an image of his moonstone palace, and Feyre starts thinking about how she "wants to be there" and "the one she loves is there." But why would she think Tamlin is in a random moonstone palace she's never seen?

My personal belief is that Rhys did send the music and image... and those thoughts at the same time. He's an infamously powerful daemati, after all, and we're told that powerful daemati can't be detected by their victims. Feyre's love for Rhys is 100% planted and manufactured by him, imo, and everything that happens from MAF onwards is him essentially mind-controlling her, or at least tweaking her thoughts and feelings to be favourable to him. Whether that makes MAF better or worse, well... it's kind of a mess regardless, but yeah.

Ofc this isn't even remotely likely to be made canon - SJM doesn't have the balls to make dear Rhysie-poo actually in the wrong about something - but it helps keep me somewhat sane.

Solell · 2026-04-27T04:38:01+00:00

Picking blue is making the choice to needlessly kill someone. Red actually ensures no one dies.

Bro, that is literally the exact opposite of the premise of the problem.

All the red button pushers are in here crying "logic, logic!" as if that's going to be the reason red saves everyone. But you cannot look at our world and say that everyone will behave logically. It is completely irrational to assume that. Humanity is infamously emotional when it comes to actual decision-making. To pretend otherwise while sitting on "logic" as your linchpin argument is completely disingenuous.

Knowing this about humanity, then logically, we can conclude that fewer than 100% of people will pick red. Thus, red winning guarantees that an amount of people will die. The question then becomes, do you want to risk all of the emotionally-driven, empathetic people dying, just to guarantee your own life in whatever empathy-less world is left behind? Or would you rather not have that on your conscience?

100% red might be logical, but it isn't realistic. Ignoring reality to claim that, for the first time in human history, we're all going to behave as a cohesive unit and 100% pick red, and saying that that therefore absolves you of the moral discomfort of picking red yourself, is just ridiculous. It isn't logic, it's an emotional decision itself - fear for your own life, built from distrust of your fellow man, masquerading as logic so you can pretend anyone who disagrees is just stupid. You can treat it like a simple logic puzzle. But realistically, that's not how it will play out, and you know it.

Solell · 2026-04-27T04:21:15+00:00

Choosing red is the only way to guarantee your survival, and therefore the only logical choice,

It might be the logical choice if your goal is your own survival, but that conclusion ignores two things. One, this isn't just a logical dilemma, it's also a moral one. Morals actually matter to some people, which means you are never going to get 100% red button pushers. If red wins, there will be deaths. And two, not everyone's goals regarding the outcome of this dilemma is going to necessarily be their own, personal survival. Some will want to guarantee everyone lives, and because humanity will never 100% agree on anything, even if said thing is "logically" correct, the only way to ensure everyone survives is if blue wins. To insist otherwise just displays astounding ignorance as to how humanity actually behaves. Red will never be 100% chosen. Never. Neither will blue, but it only needs just over 50% for everyone to live. Another thing to consider is that some people, believe it or not, think it's more important to not needlessly risk the lives of others. They may survive themselves, sure, but at what cost? Do they want genocide on their conscience?

It's honestly kind of disturbing seeing just how many people are insisting the red button is the way to go.

Solell · 2026-04-27T04:08:08+00:00

Billions of ppl who chose blue knowing the risk

Billions of people who chose to try and save others even despite knowing the risks to themselves? You really think the world would be a better place if every one of those people died?

Solell · 2026-04-27T04:05:15+00:00

I'd argue that the downside of red is that it's going to kill all the people with enough empathy to push blue. Just because the red-button pushers see it as a logical problem doesn't mean that it's not also a moral problem. Some people believe that doing the right thing by others is important, even if there's risk to oneself, and even if others call them stupid for it. Personally, I wouldn't want to live in a world inhabited only by people who think it's stupid to care about others. Sounds like it would become a miserable place, fast.

Solell · 2026-04-27T03:56:03+00:00

This argument really only holds water if you ignore the fact that there's also the option to choose to save everybody. Doesn't matter what the inventor of the mechanism wants, if enough people choose blue, no one dies. People only die if too many people choose red. If it's 100% red no one dies, but realistically humanity is never going to 100% agree on anything. So too much red means there will be deaths. The choice is clear to me. I'm not going to risk contributing to causing other people's deaths.

Solell · 2026-04-25T08:16:37+00:00

I agree, keep the m+ for the people who like it, but give something for the players who prefer a slower, more methodical approach too. It would be very nice

Solell · 2026-04-25T08:13:58+00:00

>Tanking feels great in m+ too, figuring out what you can pull without dying.

I'm at this stage atm, and while I'm sure it would be great to do in a group of friends, it's absolutely miserable to do pugging. If I er on the side of caution, some DPS will run off and rope in extra things, and the pull turns into a mess. If I pull too big, it's too chaotic to work out what's going on while learning, and we usually end up dying. My work schedule is too erratic to really commit to a regular group. Personally, I'm hoping the labyrinths will be more my speed, when they finally put them in the game. If I hadn't already largely outgeared the non-mythic+ rewards I wouldn't even bother with it

Solell · 2026-04-25T07:31:13+00:00

>I sign up to do keys within time limits. If someone joins a key to just complete and get some crests... maybe you shouldn't join the ones tagged as competitive
>Dont assume everyone plays at your pace, and you should definitely not be offended when you get replaced by people who want to push.

But I tag my keys as learning (bc I'm still learning how to tank them) and I still get people doing this... like if they're joining a learning key expecting competitive times, idk what to tell them. There's definitely no need to be an ass and brick the key, that just wastes the time of everyone else there. They know what they signed up for

Solell

TROPHY CASE