Quote Originally Posted by Cetonis View Post
I don't think people who enjoy the bow aesthetic are really all that offended by the notion of their job having skills like Battle Voice. And I don't think people who are sad about the reduction in support relative to Stormblood, are necessarily "we must add more dps to the raid than any other job or else we'll be offended".

Bard in FFXIV has historically been able to satisfy both camps reasonably well, given that they aren't going to have an extreme classic-Bard-like support in the trinity they've set up, and they aren't going to have some classic hunter with pets and traps and such given how much of a mess pets are etc. Bard has always been able to appeal to both, even if not reaching the ideal of either.

In short I think SE and others are overcomplicating things. Bard should be a job whose core damage kit uses bow and arrow skills, and ranger fans will live if there's a coat of music paint. And they should have some song-themed support skills that feel relevant and impactful, yet on a total scale that keeps it safe balance-wise.

That's... really not that hard to pull off, design-wise. It's mainly a matter of hashing out fine details and actually developing it.
What you suggest was describes what 2.0 Bard was exactly. I think the addition of WM is when Bard really started to change.