There have been a lot of arguments in World of Warcraft about how powerful PvP healers should be. Should they be able to do damage and heal? How much damage? Should being able to do damage weaken their heals? Are their heals just too powerful either way?
It got to the point where there was a debuff in arenas, but that's really not fun. Maybe you can think of a better option. I think big heals should be very expensive to use (high mana requirement). Making them take forever to cast doesn't work either, since there are too many stuns and interrupts. You'd never get a big heal off. It's very hard if not impossible to get a long cast off even with good set up and peeling.
Share your ideas of how to address the issue without making it no fun to heal.
Most of the healers I've played with (and myself when I do the job) find enough fulfillment in playing the combination of 'red bar go up' and self-keepaway that the position takes. Ideally the numbers are such that a coordinated assault can outheal the healer, but in the face of general pressure the healer can help his team outlast the other long enough to get the upper hand.
The debuff thing just really didn't work for me. It was too penalizing. At the same time, there were cries to remove healers altogether. That would be even less fun, ha ha. So, instead of a debuff or just banning heals from group play, what are some other options?
As noted, I think big heals should be costly. Perhaps damage dealing by healers should as well. Still, they have to be able to defend themselves in some way when they're focused and don't have proper back up. It's an issue of balance, which can be rather tricky.