Playing WoW for the first time? Here's a personality based role selection:

Hey there. So happy you found this article and that you're looking to play WoW!

This assessment will be based on personality traits discovered in the people playing different classes over time. In the past, I have sometimes used these in the recruitment of gamers to better understand a persons role in a team. As an example, if someone used to lead raids of 45 people on a professional/semi-professional level - that would tell me a lot more about that person than that she interned at a large production company during her studies (no offense).

I will base this off of the roles in a raid (you can choose to implement the same thinking on different versions, adding the nuances and roles missing), so without further ado, here are the roles (including IT, GoT and Naruto equivalence);

Healer

The Healer is one of the roles with the most responsibility and can like the support in a MOBA "make the plays" for her teams. Usually this is a good fit for a big sibling, who is used to taking care of her reckless younger siblings by dispelling, resurrecting and fixing what she didn't cause. Personality traits often seen in this class is an superhuman amount of patience for other peoples f-ups. Get used to being blamed for wipes.

Being able to multitask is a great plus here, as essentially you need to keep everyone alive (yes, even the rogue running into Naxxramas like there is a sale on the Mask of the Unforgiven). If you have been an agile coach, scrum master, product owner or producer, this could be a good fit for you. But please, don't go all martyr on us other folks - we can't stand the whole "lone ranger" act.

On the other hand, if you're a nicely specc:ed holy priest, finding a 5-man raid is a cakewalk. You can easily leave the guild (please don't) and find new friends online. In GoT you are Sam, in Naruto you are Tsunade, etc.

DPS

Do you have the attention span of a hamster (no, but seriously rogue, I'm looking at you)? Do you like to pretend the boss is a frenemy from IRL? Will you not take no for an answer? Well then, my friend, welcome to DPS. This class is usually a good fit for whoever is result oriented and competitive. If you are a project manager, change leader, business person or anything like that, this could be your dream job.

Sometimes your bullet-focus and assiduous manners can be imperative to the group success. You will walk through hell with a smile on your lips - you feel no fear - and you laugh death right in the face. Sometimes you expect too much from your team, especially the healers when it comes to dispelling etc. You don't want to worry about whether you are standing on ice/fire/poison, you just want to kill the bad guys. You can benefit from being a bit more mindful of your surroundings (probably IRL too).

Let's be real, sometimes you talk waaay too much in group chat. Sometimes your brain needs to wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Please stop initiating on gut-feeling. Please stop kiting every creep in the dungeon. WAIT FOR TANK. And if things aren't going your way, you might rage quit, or just go scream from the balcony for a second. We get that, just stay on top of your game and don't get lazy with your grinding. You are Arya or Naruto. Period.

Tank

Another carry-role that will act as the cavalry for the group. This person stands face to face with the bad guys and protects their guild using their body as armor. Although sometimes quiet and introverted, you know that a tank is someone that shows up when it matters. When your cat dies, your tank will be there for you. When the DPS are screaming at you for not healing fast enough, tank will create new discord and ask if you are okay?

As hard as a rock on the outside, but on the inside lives a person who genuinely cares. Tanks have the ability to brush off "constructive criticism" when delivered by group members and comfort martyr healers when they whine about wipes (which is good, because DPS is on the balcony screaming).

You are analytical and you need to be, otherwise you wouldn't survive the hits you are taking from the boss. If you are a Senior Data Scientist or Security Officer (wink) who is comfortable with yourself and mentoring others, this might be a role for you.

You know you are important, you know they wouldn't stand a chance without you. And honestly, sometimes you let it get to your head. Try not to let the DPS push you to a point where you lose it, although it's hard, we know that. In GoT you would be Ser Jorah, in Naruto you are Kakashi or Jiraiya.

Let me know what you thought of this - if enough people want it, I can give this more granularity by diving deeper on class-personalities.