More often than not, people are just creatures of habit. They preoccupied with ruts and trying new things is not going to be something they will do easily. We look at what the people are doing is that they are taking the easy way out. But it leaves them under prepared for the endgame all the way.
   A true tank is one of the most sought after members of a raid team, who can take all the beating in the world so that the other members do not have to. It is just insane that met a Warrior the other day with more than 16,000 Life. He was good in that he was hyper-specialized. There are other players that are good because they are more diversified. It's not always easy to figure out which way to be, but let's look at one way you can be both.
   Note that using something that is the least used for Alliance players. Go roll you a new Dranei Paladin or Shaman. Especially if you've been Horde all your World of Warcraft life and want to really show off how to play a Shaman to us poor Alliance saps. Now people use the Dranei race because it is not as good just unfamiliar and the starting area is a little odd. People don't like to try new things right? So be different and you just might turn out to have a better character in the end.
   In the game, the gift of Naaru is one of the coolest racial skills Dranei have. It is a HoT spell that scales with your character as you level. Therefore it is almost always good for 25%-50% life rejuvenation. Even if you are thinking about another Warrior or Hunter, it is nice to be able to heal yourself in an emergency when you're flying solo. It can also be useful in a party when the boss is almost dead and you need that last little bit to take him down before everybody wipes (especially if your healer already bit the dust).
   It is a fact that not lots of people play a Paladin using Dranei as a race and even fewer Alliance use the Shaman and you have got yourself a nice little niche to fill, especially you choose a Shaman. The gift of the Naaru spell gives both of these classes one more heal in their bag of tricks, so it's like having an extra 500-1000 mana at level 70.
   It is very complicated to play a Paladin as well as a Hunter at present. There are just tons of blessings, healings and auras which can really make your fingers get tied up. It is not really bad once you get used to it. Shamans are only slightly less complicated as they have a lot of different totems they can use and have that odd hybrid thing where they are both melee and caster at the same time.
   But both classes are a ton of fun to play and incredibly versatile, which makes them especially valuable to raid groups. You might be looking at carrying two or three sets of gear around to be able to fit in either the tanking/DPS role or a healing role, but really, it makes rolling on loot a little more fun in outlands because you really can use a lot of different items; much more so than say a Rogue or a Hunter.
   Probably you have the best chance to get some really nice gear as a Shaman since no other healer or caster class uses mail armor in reality. So you won't be competing with anyone for things you really can use. Blizzard put the same amount of gear in for Shamans, and Horde players have been using it for years, but on the alliance side, you'll be in your own little wonderland.
   In a group, you sometimes might be asked to be the healer but considering you will be wearing main and plate armor, it can be a lot less painful than being a Priest. It will take some practice to heal as well as a Priest; you will have to specialize for it but never ever have to worry about getting an invite to a dungeon run.