I mostly agree with your sentiment, re: elitism but the 3 song harp is totally within reach of most players. I don't even play a lot and I have the 119 JSE for BRD, BST, BLU and THF. Is it a lot of millions of gil? Yes, it is. But you don't need elite gear to farm gil. Can do voidwatch, dynamis, etc. I mean it took me a couple weeks to save for my BRD harp and some friends to get me the win I needed but it's doable.
I think the elitism is the fact that most groups won't leave without a bard (believe me I like being needed, but I see the problem) and the fact that light DD jobs and mage jobs (other than whm and stun sch) are somewhat useless. (Pet jobs are pretty much useless) Haven't played since update though so maybe that's changed in the last few days.