Solving the Healer Problem

Here's a cool blog post over at MMO Gaming about the Healer Problem, and how the folks at "Warhammer Online" are looking to solve it.

The Healer Problem (originally the Cleric Problem) dates all the way back from the earliest days of tabletop D&D. If your character can heal, then the rest of your group won't want you to do anything but heal. This is great for them, but can be mind-numbingly dull for you, the guy who plays the healer.

Being a “pure” healer will be an inefficient play-style based on how our careers are designed. The Warrior Priest, for example, builds Righteous Fury by dealing melee damage.... If the WP hangs back and just tries to use his baseline, non-fury abilities to act as a pure healer, he will suck like a diesel-fueled vacuum cleaner.

It will be impossible to “focus” on healing rather than damage, so players won’t be able to ignore combat healers in favor of “pure” healers because pure healers won’t exist.

Linky.