What they're trying to avoid is the situation they had in FFXI where every party wanted a bard. No, every party did not NEED a bard, but every party wanted one. To the point where bards ran around with /anon an all the time to avoid people begging them to join their party.

You think tanks are prima donnas in this game, us bards in XI were known as the "princesses." A good bard turned a good party into a great one, and even a mediocre bard would make a mediocre party into a good one.

As a bard in XI, I had very little offensive ability, but enough defensive stuff as a BRD/WHM or BRD/NIN that I could handle pulling full time as well as keeping the party greased with two songs (later on three and four songs.) Haste + Attack boost were the two preferred ones, although sometimes if the DPS was whiffing a lot I'd switch to Haste + Accuracy on their request. Mages got at least one Ballad to keep the MP flowing. The ideal party setup was NIN MNK SAM BRD RDM COR - NIN tank, MNK and SAM skillchaining the snot out of each other, COR giving buffs and an exp boost, BRD pulling, and RDM healing and buffing.

I'm very relieved that bard in XIV is much more low key and just another DPS. I like providing buffs, but I also feel I provide a lot more utility by doing good DPS, too.