The harp is a lie.

[NoctisUmbra]

how does it float above it? seems like replaces. You cant be a job and a class at the same time. They did say it gave a specialized role in combat, so i suppose it could be a specialized role that has nothing to do with the class attached to it, but since it will limit cross class skills, to specialize it would have to draw on its class, at least partially. and not much on archer is bard like

No it does not replace. Replacing implies the previous is removed. Classes will remain in game after Jobs are implemented. That much was made crystal clear.

Jobs are roles one equips to excel in party play, whereas classes - while they can do well in a party - shine in a solo endeavor.

As far as their relationship to the class in terms of skill, they said that when as a class you equipped the unlocked job you would lose the ability to equip cross-class skills, however gain job-only skills. Apply this to the concept art of the alleged Bard class in that cover being the job that Archer unlocks and you can understand how, because the bow transforms into a lyre and back, it has the capacity to use all native Archer skills whilst gaining the ability to use Bard-only musical skills.

As far as how SE announced Jobs would work, there is no argument against Archer unlocking Bard. The only necessary link between jobs and classes is the native weapon of the class.

SE wanted to do something creative in a fantasy game. Bows and harps/lyres have been connected and their similarities appreciated in many ways throughout human history. It is not so difficult to imagine SE building on this and going the creative route. Hell they have Serah using a transforming bow/moogle weapon in FFXIII-2. The concept is not so foreign at all. If they made gunblades they sure as hell can make lyrebows.

The reason I find the opposition to the lyre/bow theory, especially in this thread, to be amusing is not because I simply disagree. It is because no one seems to offer up another believable reason as to why it is something else. The attempts to say it's still only a fancy bow by showing real-life bow designs are the most amusing. It is a fantasy game.

Let's look at what the lyre/bow theory has going for it:

1. Bard is one of the jobs that were announced by SE in an interview months ago. Although it wasn't certain they were the initial 7, being that the cover clearly displays the other 6 quite obviously, it is safe to assume that those are the initial release. By process of elimination, Bard is left for Archer.
2. Mages are getting BLM and WHM, and are therefore taken up based on SE's announcement of there initially being 1 job per class. Bard must go to a DoW. Out of all of them, coupled with this controversial cover art, it is logical to connect the bow to the lyre. As far as DoW weapons resembling musical instruments go, Archer takes the cake.
3. Archer has the highest base MP pool out of the DoW.
4. Latest response by community rep confirms the bow is a weapon that transforms.

If someone is going to argue against the bow/lyre theory, instead of making it based on denial or personal opinion how about they show some game-related facts that support their notion?