Dear SE, I am a Healer

[Fland]

they pick bard because it has very strong support that other classes benefit from, not because of its awesome dps. Which highlights that all dps dont actually serve the same purpose.

If by support you mean refresh/tactician, then no, from my experiences most group that pick BRD does it not because of refresh/tactician.
If you mean BRD other toolkits which are its own, then it has nothing to do with physical range dps "role".
If having different toolkits means they fulfill different "role" in the party then each one of the jobs, including each of the healers and tanks, will have different "role".
Each melee then will have different "role" instead of just melee, then there is no use again on comparing 4 tanks, 3 healers, 10 DPS or 4 melees, 3 casters etc.

[LuciferNacht]

If by support you mean refresh/tactician, then no, from my experiences most group that pick BRD does it not because of refresh/tactician.
If you mean BRD other toolkits which are its own, then it has nothing to do with physical range dps "role".
If having different toolkits means they fulfill different "role" in the party then each one of the jobs, including each of the healers and tanks, will have different "role".
Each melee then will have different "role" instead of just melee, then there is no use again on comparing 4 tanks, 3 healers, 10 DPS or 4 melees, 3 casters etc.

Okay well if not for the role skills, from your experience which skills do people desire from choosing BRD? I'm honestly curious because my experiences are different.

[Sesera]

Okay well if not for the role skills, from your experience which skills do people desire from choosing BRD? I'm honestly curious because my experiences are different.

I don't have mch but Battle voice, Foe Requiem and in a lesser extent Nature's Minne/Troubador are really desirable skills from bards.

[LuciferNacht]

I don't have mch but Battle voice, Foe Requiem and in a lesser extent Nature's Minne/Troubador are really desirable skills from bards.

Ah truth. Battle voice is nice. I think dismantle/hyperdrive(?) would be the relevant buff skills on MCH, but MCH is also similar to the "selfish" type of dps in that it's less utility. I still think refresh is more important to a group than any of those, though. Like healers drain mp so fast in high end fights.

[Fland]

Okay well if not for the role skills, from your experience which skills do people desire from choosing BRD? I'm honestly curious because my experiences are different.

Mostly because of its crit synergy with other jobs, who also have crit buffs and also part of the meta, like DRG and SCH.

Yes there are some groups that prefer to have refresh. But even then we can't really say BRD being chosen for its role skills when it's just refresh and half of the role skills are never being used. SE might as well just give BRD and MCH their own MP regen skill and remove the physical range role skills and it won't even matter.
I hope in ShB if SE does want to emphasize BRD and MCH as the "support" of the group, then they would put the role skills that can actually support the group instead of just a bunch of situational CCs that mostly done by other jobs anyway.