There's no denying that 3.01 BRD is better than 3.0 BRD, or that a bard using WM out damages a BRD that doesn't. It's also true that a slap in the face is better than a kick in the junk. But I still don't like to be slapped.

There is no excuse for a BRD to do less damage than another DPS, (and if you think BRD is now on par with other DPS you need to stop letting duty finder partys pump your ego, ) unless his/her utility offsets the damage lost.

As it sits, a bard not casting songs adds nothing to the party beyond their own damage, aside from maybe some saved mp on cures in some fights. Give us 5 or 10% less damage when not in WM for that. When we do cast songs, they have a built in damage penalty to offset the benefit to the party. Raise it back to the old 25% that'd be fine.

But they need to either raise our damage till it's on par with other DPS, or make our songs free of penalty.