Change to Wanderer's Minuet

[akaneakki]

This is actually somewhat concerning, although not just for Bard.

I saw legsweep actually got changed too, instead of 20 seconds it's 40 or something in SB. So his theory might be right but this is really concering for the people who know how to line up their cds well and so on. I hope the gap between bad players and good players will be lower in next expansion but I have my doubts too.

[Zojha]

Though the fact that Yoshi-P felt the need to mention that so many people stopped playing BRD, because of WM, makes it seem like they're only changing it because of how many people couldn't figure out how easy it was or just didn't feel like trying to learn the new play style.

I do wonder, why do people equate:"Enjoying something" with "Having knowledge of"?

It's simple, people picked Archer for the mobile ranged character gameplay and enjoyed that for 51 levels, then it suddenly was no longer mobile so they stopped enjoying it. That's completely unrelated with how good or bad they were at the new playstyle, the fact the playstyle as such changed is what made people stop playing it.

[Vespar]

It's simple, people picked Archer for the mobile ranged character gameplay and enjoyed that for 51 levels, then it suddenly was no longer mobile so they stopped enjoying it.

This. I hated the 3.0 change originally and after I hit 60 I left BRD for over a year. I didn't necessarily care about the mobility... but the added cast times felt foreign and clunky and not well thought-out (and in some-cases in the earlier levels of WM, reduced your dmg output). A few months ago I came back to BRD, I had enough time to forget the awesomeness of not casting so it felt less weird. I was able to play it like I would any other caster job.
That doesn't mean I love it more than 2.0 BRD though. I still remember how awesome it is to not cast when I'm in pre-51 content. Though I will admit I miss being able to use iron jaws, empyreal arrow and sidewinder while I'm in lower level content. (Though Im sure everyone misses something about their job in lower level content)

[Kuroneko_Jutah]

I got used to the cast times but I am glad bow/gun mage is going bye bye. And it looks like Bard and Machinist are both getting new mechanics that actually tie into the core of what they are (Bard will actually incentivise singing, and Machinists get new machines to play with!) so I am looking forward to both come June 16.

[TarynH]

I do wonder, why do people equate:"Enjoying something" with "Having knowledge of"?

I agree with what you said. It was a pretty harsh change too. It felt like a totally different job at 52, and that's hard to explain to some people. Like the difference between switching from NIN to BLM. BRD is kind of my main job. (At least the only one I got relics for.) But bardmage felt weird, and it wasn't so much the loss of movement, or not being able to "figure it out." It simply didn't feel like the job I leveled for 51 levels. I got used to the new style, but that doesn't mean I liked it.

I think 4.0 BRD will be a total revamp though, rather than a retrograde. So I'm looking forward to learning it all over again.