Controller Role Truth(To The Devs): I'm Not Sure Why This Is So Hard To Understand....

You can remove damage, damage mitigation, group protection, picking up and making shout outs from the list. That's what everyone does or should do, only power, debuff and CC are troll specific. Although, picking people up generally goes to trolls, but there's a good reason for that.

There's threats about every single role and how they're under powered and hard. All you need is general knowledge of the game and some time to get used to the role. Obviously you can get better after that, but it won't have any major effect on your performance.

If you split powers like that, then all the roles have generally speaking the same amount of things to do, and even if you don't: healer needs to keep HoT active, do instant heals/be ready to heal, shield the group and deal with all the aggro. That's technically four or five against your three. Tanks also need to stay ahead of the group, aggro mobs, gather them up, take the damage and so on. Doing CC/restoring power doesn't exactly require much. Also, generally there's at least two trolls, so you don't even necessarily have to debuff.

I'm not necessarily saying any other role requires more than trolling, but I am saying that trolling is not hard. Although, some insane damage rotations will require a lot from you. There's some finger killer rotations for HL/sorcery/whatever, and on top of that you need to do all the normal stuff.

If I had to guess, the main reason why there's so many troll topics is that they think it's like healing, as in you can keep everyone's power bar full constantly. It can be a bit frustrating and create some pressure if you think that.

I have to disagree with you about troll being the most versatile/complex role in the game. Damage role beats it by default. Every power set can do it, so there's as many methods of doing the role as there's powers, and then there's multiple ways for each power. They aren't exactly the same either. Trolling on the other hand is pretty much the same with every power type, nothing really changes much. Even healing and tanking are more versatile and complex. Each tank type has it's own way of dealing with damage.

Yes the other roles can do some of the things I mentioned but Controllers are the only ones that are as equipped to do all of them. The Controller role is the only one that naturally contributes to 3 other roles. All Healers and Tanks typically only contribute to 2 other and DPS only contribute to one. The fact that you just said DPS are the most versatile and complex role in the game is hilarious.

DPS:
Primary job - damage.
Secondary contributions - No group healing/protection. No power regeneration. No damage mitigation.

Healer:
Primary job - heal/protect the group.
Secondary contributions - Damage (typically less than Controllers) and some power returned with SC. No real way of CCing NPCs/damage mitigation.

Tank:
Primary job- damage mitigation.
Secondary contributions - Damage (typically less than Controllers). No way to give power and no way to directly protect the group through group shields or healing.

Controller:
Primary job: Power regeneration.
Secondary contributions - Damage (no damage reduction and slight damage buff). Group protection with group shields and best equipped to pick up group members. Damage mitigation: CCs.

So yes, Controllers are the most versatile and complex role in the game. If we're talking about things that are unique to specific roles, healers heal, DPS damage and Tanks mitigate damage while Controllers give power, CC and debuff. So even by your minimalist definition, Controllers have more jobs that are unique to them than the others.

You can make them all sound complex if you look at them in a biased way.

The fact that damage dealers as an example only deal damage, doesn't make the role easy. If you want to keep up with the top players, you need to know exactly what you're doing. It can mean executing complex rotations over and over again for the whole raid. At the same time you need to stay near mobs/bosses and stay alive.

"Everything" depends on healers, they can't take a break from healing even for a moment, and while they're doing their job, they draw a lot of aggro. Healing on its own is probably the easiest role, but you can spice it up with damage. And speaking of healer damage: if they're trying, it's always more than what trolls can do. Same goes for tanks, except in PW where they need to block. Although it's a bit rare to see tanks doing damage nowadays, it seems like everyone's still scared of OC.

Tanks need to be in control of the mobs, they need to move fast to stay ahead of the group, they need to know exactly how each raid works, they need to know how bosses work, they need to be ready to aggro any new mobs and then there's all the powers. When I said "everything depends on healers", I was kind of lying. "Everything" depends on the tank in T5 raids. And just to be safe: I'm pretty sure you can do all of the raids without a tank, but it might require a bit of trickery.

We've been over the troll part already, so I shall skip it. Although, I'll say that "group protection" is minimal part of troll's job. You can't get SC fast enough to actually call SC shield group protection, especially when it's mainly used for power. Also, gadgets doesn't have a group shield.

If you only look at the unique things and count them all in, then maybe troll has the highest amount of things to do, but even that depends on what you consider being unique for the role. Something that no one else can do? Then sure, but it still doesn't make it hard or difficult role. Even at its bare minimum troll can still be extremely beneficial for the group. Debuffs and CC add almost nothing to trolling in raids. The debuffs are laughably bad.

When I say versatility and complexity I was referring to the shear volume of jobs each role is equipped for and can complete regularly. Controllers have the most jobs they can complete, plain and simple. A big reason for that is the amount of time that it takes to accomplish their primary role.

Let's face it, Tanks mitigating damage, Healers healing and Damagers damaging are all pretty much 24/7 jobs or close to it. Giving power is the only job that doesn't take or even allow nearly 100% of your focus to be used on it. As a Controller, other than PoT, your main way of giving power is Instant Power. IP itself has a roughly 1 second cast time and 2 second cooldown. Therefore roughly half of your time can be used to do other things than give power.

PoT>clip with IP
Debuff>clip with IP
AOE weapon combo>clip with IP (damage)
Static Grenade>clip with IP (damage)
CC>clip with IP (damage mitigation)
SC>clip with IP (group protection Xgadgets)
trinket>clip with IP
range tap combo> IP (power regen)

Let's not talk about damage builds because every support role can do damage if they build for it and try. The fact is that Controllers are the only one's that don't get a damage reduction and gets a constant damage buff. If the three support roles had equal damage builds the Controllers would be doing more damage. As for the protection part I was counting group shielding and picking up downed group members under that section and I think we can agree that Controllers are the best for picking people up. I'm not trying to say that any of the roles are overly easy to do but Controllers do have more things they can do while completing their primary job.

And I do realize that doing damage can be complicated. But the thing is that these days you only need one player to find a beast rotation and then everyone else just copies them. I'm haven't been DPSing for long, I'm using Quantum and I'm modded with synthetic 3s but I've still never been lower than 2nd on the board as a DPS. I can say for a from experience that DPSing isn't as hard as full potential controlling.

Controlling takes a lot more adaptation and multitasking than any other role which also adds to it's complexity. Most people aren't able to adapt to different situations or multitask as well. Every situation calls for a different combination of the above move combs I mentioned. Knowing when to use the right combination is the biggest part of using the role to its full potential.

Sigh...sometimes it really doesn't seem like you think about the things you type before posting them.

Coming from someone who has played every role and every power minus elec & HL, DPSing, by far, is the easiest role on DCUO. I mean come on you start the game DPSing... I'd even say that 90% of the community is made up of DPS or people that could easily switch to DPS role if needed(can't say the same vice versa for their powers other role). I know a lot of people would say that out of those 90% a lot of them aren't "good" but nowadays anyone is a good DPS as long as they're geared and can use their powers.

As far as complexity, trolling takes the cake by a long shot. DPS damage; that's it. Tanks tank; that's about it. Healers heal; that's about it. All those three have to worry about is timing. Any good troll in my book uses debuffs and CC's. Even if the debuffs are "laughably bad" they still help. I thought someone like yourself, who seems to praise DPS', would like debuffs.

You continue to tell people to play other roles, and I have, and I can honestly say runs with a troll that actually utilizes CC properly are the smoothest runs ever. CC = less damage on the tank/anyone else in the group(less power consumption) = less heals = less power consumption from the healers(tank and healer are main priority for power imo) = more power to your beloved DPS. A troll that CC's something before I get to it when I'm tanking isn't that big of a deal, for one it isn't harming anyone, sometimes it even helps, and once the CC wears off I can do my job and the CC may even help me get back on my feet if I'm struggling. Hell, anything that can be CC'd for long enough is usually dead before the CC runs out anyway, so it really isn't that much of a bother. IF it bugs me or gets in the way of me tanking and doing my job I simply ask them not to do it until I'm in place, but any good troll knows when to CC and when not to CC. That's just how playing as a group works.

Anyone is good as long as they're geared and can use their powers? Are you serious? It's rare to see people who actually know how to use their powers properly, at best they can do decent damage. To reach the top requires more than any other role.

To be a good troll, all you need to do is to restore power. To be a good healer, all you need to do is to heal. To be a good tank, well that requires that you know how the raids and bosses work, it also requires you to pay constant attention. Obviously you can take trolling and healing beyond that, but it's not necessary, and even then it barely compared to what a tank has to do.

Obviously there's a lot of damage dealers, it's only logical. Everyone is damage dealer by default and each power set can do it.

On the surface damage dealing might seem simple enough, but how do you reach the top? That requires a lot of effort and work, you actually need to work hard for that. For trolls to reach the top, they only need to restore power and throw the occasional debuff. CC rarely needed, so I wouldn't count that in. Obviously trolls can do damage too, but is it that hard to shoot a rifle grenade or do HB combo between power restores?

I wouldn't necessarily say I praise damage dealers, but I do acknowledge what is needed to be at the top. I personally prefer playing support roles, but every now and then I also do damage. I also like debuffs, but debuffing doesn't even start to compare to power restore in how much it benefits the group.

CC doesn't necessarily mean less power usage or even damage, and compared to what can go wrong with it, healer using a bit more power is nothing. If you prevent tank from gathering up the mobs, they get left behind and then accidents happen. Also, I doubt power is an issue when fighting against random mobs. If it is, maybe you should use that CC power on power restore.

And just to be safe: I'm all for using CC properly, and especially if the tank/whatever is dying, but that's still rare. Also, the one way I really approve of CC is when a troll "replaces" a tank. As an example: in Nexus after the second boss. If tank is being slow, you can start clearing the tunnel with a troll. Works with a healer too, or even with a decent damage dealers.

I'm about done replying to you. Stopped reading when you said it takes a lot of work to get to the top as a DPS. Yes, it takes some work but not too much to get to the top as a DPS, but it takes a much longer time to get to the top as a troll. Once you hit T5 your damage as a DPS skyrockets(Don't even say it doesn't). As a troll getting your Vit up takes a while and even when it does go up your PoT isn't sure to go up and when it does it's really not that much unless you're going from 85 gear to vestments.

I didn't mean there's more DPS in general I meant there's more DPS that play it as their main role, or could easy switch to it as a fully geared DPS. You simply cannot say the same for trolls. Trolls in general are a dying breed and good trolls are even worse. You can say that DPS are harder but c'mon...they wouldn't out number every other role if they were "hard". They outnumber every other role because it's EASY. I could close my eyes and DPS like a boss. Anybody with half a brain can DPS. Why else would they make it the starting role? Why can't we be trolls from the start? Because trolling for anyone just starting the game would be too complex to handle. DPSing on the other hand is simple, use a power, you get damage! Well, look at that.

The harder/more boring roles(tank & trolls) are going extinct. Like Darth said, why do you see so many troll threads? Where's the threads about someone having a SERIOUS problem DPSing? Hell, any other problem other than needing a loadout!? With the way T5 is, to put out high numbers all you need is gear. You really don't have to truly "know" how to DPS to be, what is nowadays considered to be, "good" at it. All you gotta do is spam powers and you will get big numbers and no one will really question you either. Hell, you'll even be praised as an "Amazing DPS". Like....can you even be a bad DPS? All dpsing take is using powers. Trolling takes a lot more thinking, even if you put out power you still have to manage your power, watch your ticks so you can properly double/tripple tick(pot-pot-IP) I know few good trolls, out of all the trolls I've run with I can honestly say I only know about 8 GOOD trolls, and about 50+ bad ones.

i asked if u were new to trolling nt implying anything. accually my bad i didnt mean 4 it to be taken that way

you made alot of good points but the thing is this if u take away cc and make trolls only give power no1s gonna be a troll. trolling used to be a fun role now it seems as if when a troll is throwing debuffs everys all "no man stop wasting ur power u noob." the only thing i run is raids with my troll because anything else is just stupid. imo tanking is the best of the four roles. its probably alot harder but its the funnest simply because when tanking thiers numerous ways to do it. when healing its all the same. when trolling its alll the same but each tank is different. debuffing is the core of troll roles. cc is what trolls r 4 its thier accual job. the whole pot thing is supposed to be a secondary but because ppl would rather play without ever using thier weapon the troll role changed to something insanely crazy. if u dont agree with the statement then think of this why is the role called controller and nt energizer? because controllers run crowd controll

First of all, I guess we have to agree to disagree. Secondly, the damage might skyrocket in your eyes, but that doesn't mean you've reached the top. Gear alone takes you nowhere near the top.

As a troll you can easily get in whatever instance you want and get better gear. As an example I kind of started playing again on one of my hero character, I pretty much instantly jumped in nexus with ~1.1k vitalization. The power was just fine and even the run wasn't long, around 20 minutes and it was a PUG. That's with duo trolling. I've also been trolling T5 alerts on the same character, obviously I can't keep everyone's power full constantly, but it hasn't exactly been a problem. There's more than enough down time for me to recover and the fights don't last long, so even my pathetic power restores are enough to keep the thing going. Stats themselves don't make the role much harder, they just slow it down.

What does "trolls are a dying breed" have to do with the difficulty of the role? It's not difficulty what's driving people away, it's the fact that they don't like the role. Same goes for healing and tanking. There's probably around as many healers and tanks as trolls, but we only need one healer and tank for raids, so it's easier to get the full quota.

You could close your eyes and do damage role, but I'm not talking about doing random damage, I'm talking about reaching the top. Beating the best of the best, that's what requires more effort than anything else in the game. Obviously you can easily do some damage, but once again: that's not what I meant.

You seem to mix difficulty with the amount of players. It doesn't matter if 99% of the players were doing role X, it doesn't change the difficulty of doing it properly.

I should probably end the reply here, since you clearly didn't understand what I meant, but I'll add this: how boring something is doesn't necessarily equate to how hard it is, unless you mean how hard it is to keep doing it over and over again. I'm talking about performance, not endurance.

I would still troll, and I wouldn't take away all the CC, there's still use for some. This thing about trolls crying about their role on the forum seems to be relatively new, as in I don't remember seeing it before or after T4, only after the surge of casual players. Just to be safe: my memory's not the best, nor have I been active forum user.

Maybe you were heal debuffing a boss/mob that doesn't receive healing, that would be a good reason to tell you to stop. Same goes for debuffing mobs, the debuff doesn't really affect how fast they die, when they're dying instantly. Also, same goes for CC, no need to CC something that doesn't live long.

I've said this already in the threat: I'm all in for renaming the role to whatever people want, if that helps. The fact is that good trolling is 99% of the time about restoring power. And to be safe: with "good" I mean something that benefits the group a lot.

I personally like all three support roles and my favourite keeps changing every now and then. Currently I'm somewhere between healing and trolling. It's fun to heal and beat damage dealers in damage, but it's also extremely fun and challenging to troll alerts for damage dealers who know how to use their powers properly.

::yawn::

I simply cannot listen to a person who says it's hard to DPS. My main has been a DPS since day one and there is NOTHING hard about DPSing. Especially since most DPS use the "OP" powers. I could see if you were using Earth or any other "weak" power and were still topping the charts as a DPS, but using any of the "OP" powers is a cake walk. So what I said about simply spamming powers and getting big numbers still stands. It's easy to get in any raid as a DPS because DPS are a dime-a-dozen. The fact that you PUG'd Nexus doesn't mean anything rofl. You make it seem like someone WANTED to run with your 1.1k vit. With that VIT you were most likely secondary troll, and I assume the main troll was carrying you. Try to pre-group for Nexus and tell someone your VIT is 1.1k, you'll be gone in a heartbeat.

How do the numbers not matter? The amount of players doing each role reflects whether people are playing them or not, and why they are/aren't playing them. No role will ever be as easy as DPS. There's 8 trillion DPS because DPSing is simple and takes little to no thinking. Trolling takes thinking, you have to pay attention to your own power, and everyone else's. Tanks have to focus on the boss, their health, where everyone else is, their power bar, and their rotation. Healers have to watch the boss and watch health bars. DPS don't have to worry about their power unless they're with a troll that can't keep it up high enough. All you gotta focus on is your rotation which after a while becomes nothing and you could do it in your sleep. And about "beating the best of the best" EVERY DPS thinks they're #1. <-- Lol at all the pointless arguments on trade chat about who's "the best".

The DPS are like the drummers of the group. They sit in the back spamming away while the other roles do everything else.
No offense to drummers

We've gone way off track, but either way, Trolling is still the most complex role(as well as tanking) in DCUO imo.

I still agree with the OP; give us more ways to give power or make it a SECONDARY job again. I enjoyed playing as a Controller when the name still meant something.

I don't think I've said it's hard, but if I have, that's not what I meant. I've been saying that damage role requires more effort than any other role, if you want to do it properly and reach the top. Obviously if you use one of those FoTM power types, it'll be easier, but try keeping up with one of those with another power type. Run raids with people who are some of the best damage dealers in game, try keeping up with them. That will require effort, they are doing everything they can to output as much damage as they can, there are no breaks. Pressing one button over and over again, and doing some random debuffs/whatever doesn't even start to compare to the button smashing the damage dealers are doing.

The fact that there are so many damage dealers makes it harder, people care more about your stats and experience. If they need to look for support roles for 20 minutes, they'll take anyone they can get. Not to mention that if something goes wrong, you're the first one out if you aren't up the standard.

That's not what I tried to make it sound like, it was more like a proof of concept, hence I also saved this (I assume I don't have to point out who I am). I found the Nexus group from the LFG chat, the other troll checked if he was doing damage, and no other questions or comments were made after that. We just did the raid and were done with it. In what way as the other troll carrying me? By not even being able to double my power out? Even in normal situations the PoT troll should always double the other troll.

Just because something is easy or hard, doesn't mean everyone wants or doesn't want to do it. Damage is the one "universal" role, meaning anyone can do it, it's also the default role. On the other hand, I can't switch to troll or tank on my healer character. When all 12 powers can do one role, but only 4 can do each of those 3 of the special roles, it will automatically reduce the amount of players who play those special roles.

You can boil all of the roles to a level where you aren't really required to think, but trolling is the easiest/safest one of those. All you need to do is to press one button repeatedly and you will perform just fine. The fact that trolls take minimal amount of aggro doesn't hurt either.

There's drummer in each of the role group, and all of them can be reduced to that level. Obviously you see more prime examples of bad players who are doing the damage role when most of the people play that role.

This has gone a bit off rail and is more about opinions than anything else, but I've enjoyed it! And just to insert one last thing here: I absolutely love trolling alerts for damage dealers who know what they're doing and use a lot of power. It's a nice challenge to try to keep their power up.

Done talking to you rofl. You continue to say DPSing takes more effort than any role to get to the top(by far the funniest thing I've heard yet). Funny how you tell others to play other roles when you obviously have not. LOOOOL. Are there breaks when it comes to trolling? Pfft, I wish. What I've said still stands. Trolls are still the most complex role(as well as tanks) and can definitely make or break a group.

Typical Scoreboard warrior. Whatever though, since you feel that you're right(no good points at all.). I've tried hard but I cannot grasp your logic.

Yet you keep replying, and since you're still replying: what makes you think I haven't played other roles? The fact that I don't agree with you? I believe I've made my case quite clearly, smashing one button over and over again is not more challenging than smashing multiple buttons over and over again.

Of course I feel like I'm right, that's the reason why I'm arguing and presenting my case. I'm still waiting for an argument that changes my mind. In what way am I intolerant? Have I tried to prevent you from expressing your opinion? Have I tried to ignore your arguments? There's a major difference between intolerance and not agreeing with you. I know it's hard to comprehend, but everyone doesn't see things the way you do.

Just to point it out: you on the other hand said "I simply cannot listen to a person who says it's hard to DPS.", to be fair, I never said that, but that's still quite a few steps closer to bigotry than anything I've said so far.

You shouldn't take everything so literal mate. You're the one and only person I've met that actually thinks DPSing is even an ounce of a challenge. I don't want everyone to agree with me rofl. You're one of the few people on this thread that disagrees with me. The OP and multiple others agree with me. I don't even think everyone agrees with me and I couldn't care less if anyone agreed with me.

It's almost like you cannot read either that or you don't understand a thing I'm saying. You've been getting the exact opposite of what I've been saying. Bigotry as in you refusing to accept any opinion other than yours. Even on other threads you're going against the majority with no better argument other than "DPSing takes more of a challenge because they spam multiple buttons compared to two". Be real.

Whatever though based on your posts here and on other threads I can tell you're an ignorant new-kid. Cya mate.

And you're willing to dismiss me just like that! This should be a thrilling experience for you, to meet someone who doesn't agree with you. You don't want everyone to agree with you? I disagree with you and you call me a bigot for not agreeing with you. Makes perfect sense.

Please point where I misunderstood you, that way I can correct myself. And while you're doing that, look up the word "bigotry", it doesn't mean what you seem to think it does. Challenging your arguments and not agreeing with you is not same as bigotry. Challenging the opinions of the majority is not bigotry either.

When you reduce both sides to the basic level, it's quite literally about one having to smash multiple buttons versus another one smashing only one. I've also pointed out quite a few reasons why trolling is easier, not to mention that damage dealing is a lot more competitive, just because of that it's on its own level in the amount of effort required to reach the top.

Just for the future reference: don't start arguing if you aren't willing to defend your arguments. And yes, new kid indeed.

Funny...

I thought the goal in PvE was to defeat the bad guys.
The troller as battery mentality comes out of the scoreboard chasing mentality.

I've seen DPS jump over a downed teammate to attack, instead of taking a second to do a quick pick-up when they're RIGHT THERE!
Why? Gotta be the top beastiest dps ever!

Then, yell at trolls for CC instead of "teamwork"?
Get real.

Any DPS who is obsessed with the scoreboard
that is "to be top damager"
has no idea what teamwork is.

The troll threads did start around T4, because before that, the dps didn't have such an advantage, and trollers could tell a poor dps "Why should I give you power when I'm doing more damage?"

If the stats were still even remotely close, a lot of DPS would be embarassed by regularly being behind support roles in damage.
It happened a lot in T1, T2, and T3.
It happened less often in T4, but it still happened.
In T5, only the best support players can do more damage than the Damage roles.
But, Damage skill counts less as the damage stats give 5 times the damage on a single hit from a weapon or power.

TL/DR:
"Top damage" and "Teamwork" rarely co-exist in the same play-style.
As the saying goes, "There is no I in TEAM".

You're just another scoreboard warrior that tries to give DPS some real value. DPS do nothing but spam buttons and expect the rest of the group to support them. All you worry about is burn and nothing else. Your teammate could be down literally right next to you but you won't even notice it because you're too busy spamming away to be at the top of the irrelevant scoreboard. Competitiveness has nothing to do with being easy or not. When I go in a raid as a DPS I could care less about being "top DPS" it's just irrelevant numbers and there is almost always going to be someone better than you out there. You can't compare a DPS pissing match for who gets the highest damage out with the complexity that comes with trolling. I've yet to meet a troll that trolled only to put out more power than anyone else. The fact that MOST DPS only care about their numbers shows you that they could care less about teamwork. Trolls are there to give power to the group, not to compete with the group. Why would you compete AGAINST the people you're supposed to be working WITH? #Logic. Listen to yourself.

The troller as battery mentality comes out of the fact that all the other roles can convert that power to something more beneficial for the group. "Scorecard chasing" is a side product of doing raids, and I don't think I've ever said it's necessarily a good or a bad thing.

I've seen trolls who haven't restored any power, done any debuffing or CCing. I've seen healers who don't heal at all. I've seen tanks who wait for everyone else to go in first. Why? Because who the hell knows why.

I yell at anyone who doesn't do their job, that includes your beloved trolls and damage dealers who only chase the top spot on the scorecard. Someone obsessed with the scorecard doesn't mean anything, unless they allow it to affect the way they play.

The starting time of the troll topics doesn't matter in this case. I'd love to know what you mean with "the dps didn't have such an advantage". Advantage in what sense? Why can't a troll say that now, because he's not doing his job just so he can beat someone in damage who's just gained access to the tier?

You clearly haven't seen my other posts, have you? I've said multiple times in this threat how support roles can beat damage dealers in damage. I've even showed proof of how support roles can do stay relatively near good damage dealers in damage. Relatively near as in damage dealers doing a bit over two times my damage. Ever since the launch of home turf, support roles have been able to do an insane amount of damage. Yet there's these lovely people crying how the support roles can't do enough damage.

Five times the damage, you say? Don't be silly, but let's roll with that: that doesn't change my original point, which was that damage dealing requires more effort if you want to beat the best of the best damage dealers. We probably have different definitions of best, so: someone who can do their role really well and all the other little things that come with being in a team.

Indeed! I'm a warrior! Move out of my way!

I know, it's terrible when someone's willing to give some real value to everyone based on what they have to do, especially when that someone actually does all the roles. It doesn't really help that this someone also prefers support roles. It's so terrible, and I'm extremely sorry about that.

Damage dealers spam buttons just like trolls, healers and tanks. The difference is that for a damage dealer to reach the top and keep up with the best of the best, they need to execute their rotations perfectly all the time while doing all the normal things that being in a group comes with. For trolls to perform well, all they need to to do is to keep PoT active and restore power, nothing else is required, neither can you go much further than that. You can do debuffing, but that's pretty much it. Healers only need to keep HoTs active. Tank will need to do a bit more, but even they can just stand still and block most of the time.

Also, you said it yourself, "Your teammate could be down literally right next to you but you won't even notice it because you're too busy spamming away". Damage dealing at the top level requires a lot of concentration, but good damage dealers are still able to keep their eyes open and do the normal tasks too.

How competitive something is affects how hard it is to reach the top. As an example you could start healing today, do normal weapon combos and people would be amazed at your damage and healing abilities. People generally don't expect healers to do damage, there's no competition between healers either, there's no good incentive to push the role further and further. Damage role being extremely competitive, people have pushed that to it's limits. It doesn't mean average people are any better, but the best of the best are.

As long as you don't care about your performance, you will never be at the top, hence you cannot understand what goes into a proper damage dealing. It's sad when you can't get over your prejudice towards the damage role because of some bad experiences and/or lack of knowledge.

You compete against the people who are your friends and who you work with to improve yourself. Do you know how people train for combat? Do you know how people train self-defense? They most certainly don't find enemies for that.