I have been an Archer/Bard main since I started this game, and I've put up with all the weirdness and playerbase bitching about it having the lowest DPS of the DPS (Despite that not even mattering unless you're playing savage/extreme content) and whatever else. I've always had the stance that BRD needs a buff, but is overall fine.
Some of the changes EW made, though, really, really annoyed me, namely the fact that your DoTs don't connect to the rest of your kit at all anymore. The BRD kit feels utterly disconnected in a lot of ways. Sure, other classes have some of these same issues, but I don't think any of them have ALL of these or them quite to the same level as BRD. So mostly, I wanna rant, to lay out all of the issues I personally have with BRD's skills and suggestions on how I think both individual skills and the entire kit could be improved?
First and foremost, the DoT issue. I don't watch liveletters or the like, so if they explained exactly why they made this change, I missed it, but it isn't hard to guess that it's most likely because of people complaining about having to maintain their DoTs. To which I would reply, for p much one of the only times in my life, AND as someone who still frequently forgets to refresh them (even more now that they're not relevant to the rest of your kit): Git Gud. There's an /entire/ skill dedicated solely to refreshing your DoTs. Yes, the way they interact with your songs could've been made a bit clearer and more consistent, but changing it to just plain random procs hasn't exactly been consistent either. What does 80% to proc Repertoire even mean? 80% every second, every tick? I'm leaning towards Tick but the point is that it's unclear.
Basically, the big issue with BRD DoTs right now is that they are completely and utterly disconnected from the rest of BRD's entire kit. Nothing relies on them and they effect nothing, they're pure damage, which isn't an issue in and of itself- Healer DoTs are pure damage, but SAM's is at least interwoven into their kit and DRG's is just plain part of their rotation last I knew. Right now, you can totally ignore setting your DoTs as a BRD if you don't care. It's not a great idea with BRD being the lowest damage to begin with, but overall it won't harm your gameplay, just make the fight a little longer, since BRD DoTs aren't relevant to most DPS checks from what I can tell. Either connect them to your songs again with a clearer explanation of how they interact and make the interaction more consistent, or remove the DoTs entirely. Personally, I think BRD should keep their DoTs, as I find them an interesting part of their kit when they actually matter to the rest of it, but if people are really gonna complain that much about maintaining them, then just remove them, because disconnecting them from the rest of BRD's kit has just made them easier to forget to maintain IMO.
(The rest coming in replies because I ramble)