Thought of the day: Situational Awareness
With 3.3 and the recent wave of alt-mania that’s been sweeping the guild, a few buddies have been asking me for pointers when it comes to tanking.on their paladins. I’ve told them all the cookie cutter stuff, along with a few hints on how to pull, etc. But the one thing I’d like to impart that’s basically impossible to teach is good, old situational awareness.
To demonstrate the concept, please first watch this super quick video and count how many times the kids pass the basketball.
Correct answer after the jump.
That video was part of a study done at Harvard University to study what’s called “change blindness” (that is, when something in a person’s field of vision changes and they don’t realize it because they were focusing on something specific).
Of the subjects asked to watch the video, about half failed to notice that during the course of the video a person in a gorilla suit walks in the midst of the passing, thumps its chest and leaves stage left.
Did you notice the gorilla?
This is what I’m talking about when I use the term “situational awareness”. That gorilla could be a void zone spawning under you or a rogue add aggroing and bee-lining right for the healer. It’s your job as a tank to, yes, pay attention to the balls being passed and forth and not lose track of the action, but at the same time, always keep an eye peeled for that gorilla.
Armory Feed
Good post. I like this.
haha – i was like WTF is the gorilla doing in there?
I R gud tank nao. =)
I was watching the video and then suddenly wondered how Rhi edited himself into the video.
/nobbull joke
haha. . great post and yes i agreed with what the gorilla was doing in there..
Everything stated is very true. You can help a toon gear correctly and the basics but you can’t teach them to be a solid player.
I noticed the gorilla. More accurately, I was instantly captivated by the gorilla–ahmagawd it’s a gorilla!– and lost track of the pass counts. I also forgot why I was watching the video in the first place.
@Rhidach
14 December 2009 at 4:19 pm #
I think this is the equivalent of you running away from a sarth flame wall and dying in a void zone, haha.
I’ve found the the key to situational awareness in tanking is the floor. Don’t watch the boss, watch your character’s feet.
@hazmacewillraid
14 December 2009 at 7:30 pm #
More importantly, did you see the sweet behind-the-back pass made by the woman in black about 4 seconds into the video? WNBA, here she comes!
so how many passes were there? i got 25
It’s funny you should mention this. Lately with the ease of new gear and lfg I have been giving my warlock some much needed attention. She was my first toon, first raider and was benched when I discovered the joys of tanking. Now however I have a hard time not thinking as a tank when I play her.
Many a time I will see a tank who has 0 awareness for what is happening to the group. So long as a mob is on him there is a tunnel vision focus on it. Never mind that a healer or ranged dps is getting chased by a random mob or that there is a pat incoming. I find it said when I see a pat and have the time to write it in party chat and the tank does nothing.
And yes I did see the gorilla ;)
I got 25 also…although I almost lost track when the gorilla showed up….LOL
I didn’t notice the gorilla. But to be fair, one can conclude that I was so engrossed in what I was supposed to be doing that I did not allow myself to be distracted away from my primary objective. If I were tanking I would be aware that certain things, like those you mentioned, could happen an thus I woul be on the lookout for them.