Quote Originally Posted by gahoo View Post
The second issue is seen easily from the above list I think - that Archer was not originally a support job - meaning people who selected archers did not want to play that role. If the party role for the archer is support, you've "forced" (as much as it can be forced, which it really isn't) archers to play a role they didn't want to play. This argument could also be made for some of the other classes, but it is more pronounced with an Archer/Bard line than a Gladiator/Paladin line.
Arguably, you could say some people have chosen the Archer class because it has renown for being a tremendously effective damage dealer, and a ranged one at that, and thus very desirable for parties. Being turned into a Bard may not necessarily satisfy a continuation of that role (but they do seem to be able to shoot arrows still, so I'm not yet convinced it's a diminishment of their damage-dealing capacity), but being the only support job in the game is certainly a continuation of a guaranteed seat in any party. If this was your motivation for playing an Archer, then your future relevance has just been secured for all time.