Concerning bard, or really any job balance atm, player skill plays a HUGE role in how much damage a job does. Sure, in a vacuum under optimal conditions a job may have a higher maximum, but that assumes people perfectly execute their rotations while flawlessly performing mechanics without losing any uptime... and that's just not going to happen. If you practice your job so you don't need to think about your actions and know what to do when you mess up, you'll do more damage than someone who hasn't done that regardless of job.

I regularly see the "support DPS" like BRD or RDM outdamaging other jobs, or even being the highest damage dealer in content. It's all a matter of respecting your team enough to practice, and not acting like your choice of job means you don't have to work as hard.