Question, why does Bard and Machinist share the same core mechanic?

[Lemuria]

What they SHOULD have done for Bard was give them fresh new songs, like a haste skill, damage buff song, defense buff song etc. Then the job would genuinely feel like a Bard and less like a budget Ranger. Bard being a fun job with lots of mobility? Let's reduce their mobility with WM, give them cast times and rob them of auto-attacks! Barrage actually pretty powerful? Let's change it so it only works on a single weaponskill, and doesn't allow criticals! It's like they were trying to systematically dismantle the job rather than breathe new life into it.

It's honestly not that surprising that Machinist shares a lot of similarities with Bard. I think the creativity was all used up on Astrologian.

People exaggerate the movement impairment GB gives too. Guess it helps them make a point?

It's still an impairment though. Being able to move freely while maintaining damage was one of Bard's biggest advantages. It meant that no matter what crazy AoE you were forced to dodge it did nothing to your aim. In return, we got a weak damage buff which, at the time, didn't even make up for the loss of auto-attacks. They had to increase the damage by 10%, and even then it barely ties even.

[WhiteArchmage]

What they SHOULD have done for Bard was give them fresh new songs, like a haste skill, damage buff song, defense buff song etc.

I would have welcomed more songs, even if I like Bard as it is, although the meta would have torn BRD apart with those examples. A DMG buff song would need to be used at all times and we already have Foe Requiem, so it would either mare FR useless or just be P.Def version of Foe, in which your casters and healers would fight the tanks and melee over who needs it most. Haste song, I can already hear the monk's cries when you stack haste song + arrow + Selene buff. Defense song, very useful but if it didn't gimp your dps healers would be asking for it at all times, and maybe even if it did. Not saying it can't be done (say, for 4.0) I'm just saying it'll have to go through a lot of testing for balance purposes.