Shared Topic: When Should a Healer Let Someone Die?

It’s the (relatively) age old question that Ecclesiasticaldisc from Ecclesiastical Discipline brought up for last week’s Shared Topic: is it ever ok for a healer to let someone die?

[…] wondering how other healers feel. Where do you draw the line on shifting the priority of someone’s heals down (or refusing to heal them all together)? Is it if they upset you personally? If they are consistently standing in the fire? If they have lame dps? If they aren’t managing their aggro? If they go afk for fifteen minutes in the middle of a boss fight? Is it only when it’s jeopardizing the entire group’s success? I believe there is a point for every healer, but where does the gray area fall? Does anyone really heal the jerk who is offensive and stands in fire when there is anyone else who needs healing?

While I’m curious about healer opinions, I also think this is an interesting question for tanks and dps. When do you think it’s fair if a healer lets you die? Do you trust your healers or do you worry they will let personal feelings or pet peeves guide their choices? Do you feel like a healer stating (in advance of a pull) that they will not heal until an issue hindering the group is resolved is fair? As a tank, do you feel you need or appreciate the support of a healer to handle dps who aren’t doing their job? Do you feel aggravated when someone even suggests that a behavior could be bad enough to result in said person not getting healed?

I know this can be a loaded issue, and I am very open to opposing viewpoints. If you want to argue that you should heal everyone equally based on their hp and incoming damage, regardless of any other considerations, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

The context I’m imagining is a random PUG five man normal or heroic at any level, but feel free to answer in any way that moves you.

Alternate Questions: Who *really* has the control over the pace and progress in a five man PUG? How do you – in your own role – fix a group dynamic that is obviously failing and causing people to die? Do you feel like you are more likely to listen to the direction of a tank or a healer in a PUG five man?

As one would expect from such a debatable topic, a lot of people got involved! Here’s the list of participants:

Typhoonandrew from TyphoonAndrew’s – Eye of the Storm

Zan from Altoholic Anonymous

Ekagorasa from Elkagorasa the Casual

Apple from Apple’s Little Corner of Azeroth

Relevart from Relevant’s Druid Reliquary

Herculano from Herc the Merc

Ringo Flinthammer from Flinthammer Hall

Amaranth608 from Love and War in Azeroth

Sindei from Six Inch Heals

Dwarven Pinball from the Dwarven Pinball

Aura from Priestage

Garona from PVE Rogues

RestoDude from RestoDude

Erinys from The Harpy’s Nest

Mishaweha from Me, Myself…and All of Them!

Vrykerion from Oddcraft

Calsong from Mind Spike

Angelya from Revive & Rejuvenate

Zabine from Life in the Soul Well

Razorstorm from The WoW Storm

Malevica from Type H for Heals

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

This week, our Shared Topic revolves around the things we’ve learn from WoW. They could be funny things, they could be serious things, they could be random things, just things we’ve learned during the course of our World of Warcraft gaming experience. Write about it on your blog and leave a link to your post in the thread at Blog Azeroth!

Some other upcoming topics include:
RP a scene with your Favorite Mount
A Picture Tells a Thousand Words
What Should Give You Guild Rep?