It's not strictly the damage. It's also the utility stacked with it. Why take someone that deals equal damage if that's all they do when you can take BRD and have the same damage and make your healer's job easier as they aren't in the line of fire as often? Plus the occasional song when needed. That's why you see parties taking several bards at once over melee DPS.
Funny how most of the posts against any sort of change seem to be coming from BRDs themselves.
Wrong on that one, "buddy." BRD was designed to be support. You are essentially put into the "defined sector" you seem to speak of by being pretty much all DPS at the moment, aside from the occasional fight when the casters need some MP. But that's more of an oversight on SE's part as there isn't really a "support" grouping as far as the duty finder is concerned but the fact remains, you are just DPS now. A DPS with really nice perks that overshadow most of the positives any other DPS classes have.