Revisiting an old topic: The Tank (And why I don't like the name.)
Here's why.
The "Tank" as it's referred to in gaming was always slang. It's obviously comparing the role to armored war vehicles. This use of the word only originated in the English language in the 1910s.
All prior uses and versions of this word, or words that even sound like "tank" are thus:
The earliest record the Oxford English Dictionary currently enters for tank comes from Englishman Thomas Herbert’s 1634 chronicles of traveling in Africa and Asia: ‘Tancks or couered ponds of water, fild by the beneficiall raines, for the vse and drink of Trauellers’. Herbert’s tanks refer to pools or lakes used in India for irrigation or storing drinking-water, and many etymologists think the term was borrowed directly from Western Indian languages. Gujarati has tankh (‘underground reservoir for water’) and tanki (‘reservoir of water, small well) while Marathi has tanken (‘reservoir of water, tank’) and tanka (‘cistern’), all which might come from their parent tongue, Sanskrit, whose tadaga means ‘lake’ or ‘pool’.
Making things more complicated, though, is the Portuguese tanque, also meaning ‘reservoir’ or ‘pond’, ultimately from the Latin stagnum (‘pool’, source of stagnant and possible origin of staunch). Some think English may have separately borrowed this tanque for its modern use of tank – first attested in John Dryden’s 1690 tragedy, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal, for a ‘container for large quantities of liquid’ – with the earlier, Indian tank reinforcing its sound and sense. Others suppose that the Portuguese tanque actually supplied the Gujarati and Marathi words for ‘reservoir’ when they established colonies there starting in the 16th century.
And further clouding the waters is tankard, first referring to a large tub-like vessel (1310s) and then a large beer mug (1480s). Despite similarities in form and meaning, tankard has no apparent relation to tank; it’s borrowed from the Dutch tanckaert, also a kind of tub and of unknown origin. English has had other, unrelated tanks, too, such as a Middle English term for a ‘wild carrot’ and an Early Modern English dialectical term for a ‘blow’ or ‘knock’, likely related to the Scottish and Irish colloquial tank, or ‘defeat soundly’ in sport.
Comments
https://youtu.be/L30qJOqZUAg?t=58m56s
EDIT: From what i can tell, the intent of the " Tank " name is to nudge the Secondary-Archetype system via ... a Tank is only a fraction/ half of the whole thing
i know SevenSwords did - its only one i can think of atm
with the reference of liquid holding having a pool of health and ability to soak up damage.
Priests, Clerics etc are 'healers' by virtue
and DPS 'Damage Dealers' just completes the trinity.
Protector and Defender is what came to my mind when I saw the OP topic.
Unless it has caterpillar treads and shoots shells I'm not interested in a fantasy world using the term 'Tank' as a actual class description.
That's just my opinion I'm sure people would disagree.
I think there is a plethora of names that can be used, I do like Bulwark !
I was perturbed as well when I read tank the first time. I guess I just forgot about it and moved on. But now that you brought it back up I want it changed again.
Cerberus
It originated in WW1 as the first factories that could build a tank were ones that made metal tanks for holding liquids.
What is important about the word is that as soon as you use it, people know exactly what you are talking about. If somebody says they are playing a tank, I know they don't mean an AFV, or a big cylindrical liquid storage device.
So trying to change it would be like trying to change the name 'PC' for a computer because it used to be the name brand of the IBM-PC.
But hey..I wish you luck in changing the language used by millions of gamers
I also understand the term for it, even if it's not just a place holder, it is designed to indicate exactly what it does and what the gaming community is going to call it anyways. People that play a tank will tell other players they are a tank, more than likely, even if it's called a defender. I have never heard a player they are telling me they play "...a DPS."
As for immersion, I don't see that. In D&D along with some MMO experience very rarely have the players I have played with gone around introducing themselves as "I'm a rogue" or "I'm a fighter." That more than likely means nothing to an NPC. I think in Ashes other players will be more interested in the name of your Class/Class combo. Imo.
We have come up with a lot of really good ideas here though and I would hate to, at the very least, not have them looked at and commented on. I will make sure to ask the question during next Q/A.
To me naming this class "tank" is the same if not worse than naming the cleric "healer". It just doesn't feel right.
But that's like calling all people in the rural US south "hillbillies." Just became a lot of people do it doesn't make it right.