You're right about the playstyle change being kinda shit. But you make it sound like bards have it extremely hard when it come to mobility when you really don't
I don't think it's about easy or hard, I can move cast and cast perfectly fine, it's the jarring shift in play style.
Bard is the only job to have it's core game play of what 2/2.5/3 years, completely altered. Sure you can still use non-WM, but that's like saying a BLM doesn't have to stay still either because they have scathe, if you don't want to be limiting yourself and your party you absolutely have to use it in situations that don't require movement for extended periods of time.
I think the job itself is jarring.
First its like "Lets make Archer into Bard instead of Ranger! Everyone will like BRD!" and now its "Okay nvmd BRDs are dumb, lets just make them more like BLMs, everyone liked BLM right?"
The job itself makes no sense... but thats just me. I'd of preferred a RNG class.
I mean, I have a machinist 60. Its not hard. The playstyle is fun.
A minuet is a slow dance, BTW. So bards are dancing to their own music. except their own music makes them slip and fall in their own tears. plebs.
It's due to their adherence to the trinity. Without having support classes built into the game they've had to shift support abilities to all jobs, but you're right in the sense that Bard is by far the worst offender. It's like they had no idea what to do with it while also keeping it inline with the trinity.
Machinist was just released though. If you go into MCH or even the BRDs entering now, you know ahead of time that they job is now this, but the rest of us playing since release have been taught how to play the job like it is from 1-51, it's bad design to take an established play style and completely get rid of it due to its effect on the player base.
Not to mention they should be adding the stance much earlier in the jobs leveling, it's counter-intuitive to have the skill presented to you that late into the game when it's that drastic of a change.
I mean, thats what expansions are for - introducing big changes. MCH plays really similar to BRD now anyways, even if WM was copy/paste GB.