I've permanently solved The Wanderer's Minuet problem...

[Kaedan94]

Yeeep, that's exactly what happened. You ask for DMG? Sure! We'll remove your mobility, nyaha!
Something had to go, and it wasn't going to be their supportive skills since it already hinders you anyways.
Casting though seems lame. I'd feel more upset that I'd be playing another BLM named BOM [Bowmage.]
I like the fast shooting of a BRD. Dunno how it is past 52.

It's not casting. It's taking aim/charge time. All the BRD weaponskills didn't suddenly become spells. They just take slightly longer to fire because you're taking careful aim.

Sadly I think much of the problem could be fixed if they simply renamed the "waiting bar" for BRDs to be "Aim bar" or "Charge bar".

As I said before, for those who weren't needlessly hyperactive bunnies in 2.x, nothing changed with the introduction of WM.

[Mikhaill]

It's not casting. It's taking aim/charge time. All the BRD weaponskills didn't suddenly become spells. They just take slightly longer to fire because you're taking careful aim.

Sadly I think much of the problem could be fixed if they simply renamed the "waiting bar" for BRDs to be "Aim bar" or "Charge bar".

As I said before, for those who weren't needlessly hyperactive bunnies in 2.x, nothing changed with the introduction of WM.

Not sure, but are you using semantics? Casting/Aiming/Charging/Conjuring whatever.
They're the same thing. Shoulda left BRD as it was and added more support skills, and if they want this Aim/Charge thing, they should of slapped on Machinist and called it new.
Not put it on both physical range DPS. That's stupid. I'm personally upset we get a rare to use support skill.

[Kaedan94]

Not sure, but are you using semantics? Casting/Aiming/Charging/Conjuring whatever.
They're the same thing. Shoulda left BRD as it was and added more support skills, and if they want this Aim/Charge thing, they should of slapped on Machinist and called it new.
Not put it on both physical range DPS. That's stupid. I'm personally upset we get a rare to use support skill.

BRDs complained that they don't do as much damage as melee or BLMs. So SE listened and added a way for them to boost their damage. But they couldn't just boost their damage and not require a trade off. That would make them incredibly OP. So the trade off is precisely the reason they did lower damage to begin with... mobility.

But SE, being fairly generous, only made the "Aim time" 1.5s, which is still enough time to escape any AoE due to being able to move after hitting 75% charge. So BRD gameplay essentially didn't change at all.

The only people who are complaining are those who ran around during combat for no reason whatsoever. Anyone who did any serious content actually realizes that it's detrimental to do that, as you could adversely affect someone else in the party. Which is why BRDs who do content like Coil or Alex Savage don't complain... they don't have a reason to. For us, nothing about BRD changed except we get 30% more damage and extra oGCD skills. Awesome!

[Shurrikhan]

The only people who are complaining are those who ran around during combat for no reason whatsoever. Anyone who did any serious content actually realizes that it's detrimental to do that, as you could adversely affect someone else in the party. Which is why BRDs who do content like Coil or Alex Savage don't complain... they don't have a reason to. For us, nothing about BRD changed except we get 30% more damage and extra oGCD skills. Awesome!

Or, any Bard who liked being in a position to immediately react to mechanics and doing so without dps loss, and moving to the next optimal position when it changes. That's a very frequent use of Bard mobility that doesn't fall into "no reason whatsoever", I would think. It's something that will nonetheless be done, bit by bit, with WM, but has certainly been effected. If the implementation of Bard's new '3.0 DPS mode!' could magically cut down on 'stupid-movement', leaving only 'smart-movement', the practical among us would never have complained (even if others would have on principle of some vast, free Bardly spirit), apart from, of course, the Bloodletter-loss, oGCD snags, double-weave being limited to rare procs, etc. (but nevermind those). It's quite often that being the first to be at the ready, the most mechanics-accessible, etc., that Bards are missing, not just the ability to run circles or drop AoEs on their mages on drunk night.

But enough gloom. There is a benefit to WM that people don't mention as often as they easily could. When, as a Bard, one is told to do mechanics, s/he can make like a BLM, give them the finger, answer, "Casting," and point at the SMN (as long as he's not in Dreadwyrm stance and spamming his precious Ruin IIIs) to do all that in his/her place. Or, with no SMN present, blow up alongside the BLM, because that poor Mage probably never could have been quite so caster-ly in the first place if his healers weren't sprinting about and his Bard intercepting for him a game ago. Luckily, this seems a non-issue in 3.0 Savage. We just don't really move around much for most Alex fights (sidestep out of AoEs, approach new spawns, in and out a bit on a tether, claim a new intercept point). It's a good deal of bonus damage with little to no consequence. Yep, dodged the wrench there. Yet the Bard pain comes from realizing that you're still not much closer to 'real' dps than you were back then even when you're as caster-ly as possible. The damage bonus is real (not nearly 30% outside of AoE spams, but certainly very significant), and yet a good Bard now is no closer to a good melee than he was at the end of 2.x. Yet we can't be any closer or we wouldn't be 'support' (e.g. feeding casters so they can pretend to have melee-level dps), so we're stuck with a massive change just to keep from falling far further behind? Hmm. Hmmmm.

.....To be clear, this is coming from someone who generally finds WM gameplay more 'fun' than 2.x Bard gameplay. Not 'more serious', not 'more focused', only 'more fun'. I like its twitchy little idiosyncrasies. 3.0's Bard 'DPS Mode' ability could have come in a more fitting and/or interesting form, and could use some smoothing (Straighter Shot, etc.), but for the most part WM seems sufficient. But I do find it silly for WM to be called a true buff to Bard dps. It is little more than Bards holding their status quo in dps, and at gameplay cost. For it to be a buff, we would have had to gain dps-increasing abilities on par with the other DPS jobs first and then gained WM atop that. (Not necessarily in that order of abilities gains, ofc).

[Kiyyto]

Oh Kaedan is here!
Joy!

Let us all bask in the warmth of his... "Knowledgez?!"

- in all seriousness, brd is gone if you decide to use WM
What it was in 2.0 unrecognizable with WM on, and I really enjoyed brd in 2.0.
You aren't alone OP, many if not all bards h8 it, because the class is a trainwreck now

[Vinestra]

It's not casting. It's taking aim/charge time. All the BRD weaponskills didn't suddenly become spells. They just take slightly longer to fire because you're taking careful aim.

Sadly I think much of the problem could be fixed if they simply renamed the "waiting bar" for BRDs to be "Aim bar" or "Charge bar".

True except for if thats what you consider aiming (either fooling around with your arrow and quiver, or pointing your gun in the air) well. STUPID ANIMATIONS ARE STUPID ;n;