Quote Originally Posted by Aravell View Post
Oh, I'm aware of bard's issues, I've played it quite a lot in every expansion, I just found it interesting that bard is receiving such meh scores now. There's usually been hardcore defenders of every job, BRD still had some diehard fans back in ShB when it got gutted to make DNC more appealing, it's interesting that bard is now so widely disliked.
I think the thing about Bard is that it’s design has become so twisted and patch-work-y that it’s put even the most staunch defenders off the job. Especially compared to other ranged options like Dancer and Summoner that have near-equal utility,
they still have party-damage buffs, and they’re significantly easier to output higher dps on. People who liked it for raids/gameplay have moved onto other jobs that do the same / more dps than Bard with half the effort, people who liked it for identity have moved onto other jobs because that identity is so flimsy and poorly-formed (even after 5 expansions to develop it lol).

It’s basically the same as healers currently where it appeals to literally nobody. People who liked old Bard gameplay aren’t satisfied, people preferred the aesthetic / identity aren’t satisfied, and newer players are naturally going to gravitate towards ‘easier’ / more ‘straightforward’ jobs like Summoner or Dancer