i've raided old world MC and BWL and basically i was never an MT, only an OT in there... my only scheduled day to shine on MT was outdone by release of TBC...
but basically, i was there to pick up on trash mobs and keep trash mobs in bay unless it was the hounds...
and on occassion, when a mob gets pulled from tank, i grab and hold it till MT gets it back... simple...
now, i was in our guild's first run into Kara this weekend and i was given the MT position.
Pally was a OT in this run, and on occasion, we used Feral Druid as OT on Midnight.
now, i feel there was a confusion here...
at times, my aggro was taken by the OT and i had to pull it back and maintain it on me.
so my question is:
1) 2 mobs, simple, MT on one, OT on the other, once MT's target is dead, MT goes to OT target and build and hold threat? where OT backs off to 2nd on threat list? or does MT goes to 2nd on list on this mob?
2) on 1 mob, everything else is CC'd, what is the role of OT?
should at any point, the OT pull aggro off the MT?
is there a specific ettiquette/guideline for MT & OT relationship?
1. Usually, the MT is chosen because his skill/gear is better than the OT's. Thus, in my guild anyways, the OT's target is usually the kill target? Why? Well considering that the OT is less geared/skilled, the faster we down his target, the less chance of him either dying/screwing up.
As for what the other tank should do after his target is dead, he should start pounding on the other tank's target. In fact, at that point in time, the OT should just swap out the sword and board for a DPS weapon. Now there should be no way that he can pull agro. The MT's had about 10 seconds of time to grab agro. There's no way an OT can just come in and grab it unless the MT is really, really bad at playing.
The OT should not have to back down to 2nd on threat. Ideally, the MT would fight to 2nd on threat, though that's not always possible. (Considering how fast trash dies.)
2. In the case of only one mob, the OT throws on some DPS gear and attempts to do Prot DPS. Laughable, but every little bit counts.
As to your experience with losing agro, either you are not holding your agro properly, OR your OT is randomly throwing out taunts. If you're not holding agro, you need to evaluate what you're doing and fix it. If your OT is throwing out taunts, tell him to stop.
Hope this helps!
Edit: I know what you mean about being an off tank. Prot pally MT? NO! (Though when I'm raiding with IRL friends, I do tend to throw random taunts and then yell at our MT "Hold your agro noob!")