EQDiva

Ok, I don't usually rant, but I'm fed up with ignorant people. This is the same tired ol' crap that's followed bards around forever I sware. I'm in a BoT group and the tank is yelling "haste gone!" even though Zek is playing. The shaman is casting like mad trying to get his haste to hold. I finally shut off Zek to make the fools happy. /sigh About an hour later, the shaman leaves only to be replaced with an enchanter. What do I hear but the cleric saying "Thank god, I finally get KEI! I've had no mana regen all day." Two seconds later, the necro saying, "or any health regen." I finally lost it and said, "Fine, I'll just shut off my lousy songs." I normally don't let it get to me but I ended up leaving and logged. :( [i]Kyarah[/i]

Annoying isn't it :lol I gave up telling people what songs I'm playing.. most of them have there song window turned off anyways.. I just go about my business doing what I do best..

Well now, part of being a bard is the realization that a great many people don't know what we do. Not to know about mana regeneration (i.e., mana song) is a stretch though. Perhaps they meant they had no mana regen buff to go along with your sweet song? :D On the other hand, I avoid BoT like the plague. Experience or no, there are too many ruined moments there and I still play for enjoyment. As for haste, I hear that all the time, except from people who also play a bard. They are just used to having it and if I'm constantly pulling, it's good that they have a haste buff on because I might be out of range shortly. It's really no big deal. Sounds to me as if BoT finally got to you that day. Doctor's advice is to lance the boil . . . er, find some other place to sing your songs.

1 problem with bards is the moment haste goes from the standard arm icon to the crossed swords icon. Instantly it looks like youre not playing haste. DoTB is often taken for a standard haste buff with a short duration. And the combined regen songs only use the icon for the hp regen one. These make it hard for ppl to tell wtf is going on with the songs

Exactly!! I always here... "can you play the mana song.. when its been playing for 2 minutes.. its like wtf? one day i might be like .. "whats a "mana" song?" I honestly think youre right.. i bet half the people out there close their song window out and never open it up. Mine.. I have mine closed on my alts when they solo, but if I get a group and theres a bard, i open it up again =).

I'd have told them that they should have read up on the game before buying their characters. :p Seriously, any necro that doesn't realize that his HPs aren't going down while you are with the group is majorly dumb. I've had peeps other than the necros asking if the necros are liching because their hps aren't going down. ;) And I'm not even gonna comment on the cleric. I have given up on explaining about haste stacking and stuff though. What kills me are the tank that start screaming "haste going" when dance of the blades starts to blink, when the shammie group haste buff is still there and still solid. :lol

I wish we had bards on Stromm. Sadly, I think I have played in the last 2 years in groups with 3 bards. Yes. 3. And I can name them all. Why is that? Bard, imo, is the hardest class to play well and probably the easiest class to not play well. Just my opinion though. I started a bard because I wanted to learn more about how that class works. The reputation of any bad players gets out quickly, so people avoid grouping with them. My former guild has a bard. Everyone thinks he is god. Why? Because he can play 'the mana song'. Sadly that's the only thing he can play. No one has ever seen him twist, he won't pull (he says he can die) yet because he is the only bard, the guild worshipped him. Now for me, I can probably guess that he isn't considered to be a good bard. In fact, some other negative terms come to mind. But it really has been hard for my necro to learn what songs do what. I can read the description, but it usually makes more sense seeing it in battle. Also, I hate asking questions in battle, since I know twisting reduces one's ability to talk in long sentences. I did an LDON adventure with a bard, lvl 65. I had no clue of the songs, but I asked. I learned alot but I'm sure the bard thought I was a clueless necro. As a necro I've learned how it feels to be unappreciated. How many people know Zevfeer's? or MindWrack? At least on Stromm, I get a question weekly, usually in an LDON group, what is that spell. The other issue with songs is when a song stops and restarts, it goes into the next available slot. Often times I'll have a song in the main buff window in one slot and it moves. When you are raid buffed it is hard to keep track, but that is just raids, yet I've seen it in LDONs. Nonetheless your rant is valid - too many people don't take the time to ask questions. Not all of us have been playing since day 1 of Beta and I'm always learning new things and having fun.

BAH, I got very improperly placed and underutilized by a Chanter in an allied guild that was running a raid, and he's a FRIEND of mine. I wanted sooo badly to say "go to eqdiva.com and figure out what bards can do. Yeah there are people that find out an inch about us and think that's all they need, when they miss the mile that is a bard... (bad analogy, sorry). Mostly, just do what you do, and impress the heck out of folks. Actions speak louder than words, which is good because when you're twisting, you aren't talking. :lol That's why Kocho originally intended this site to be a place that any class could come and learn about bards. We are the most missunderstood class in the game. Sinfonian

yea.. I still get annoyed in my guild.. /snicker... they feel my wrath now.. when I know I can be placed better.. most cases tho, they have learned to put a bard in the MA group.. we usually have a couple bards at a raid now.. sometimes 3, I usually co-ordinate where the bards should go .. I just have to mention it to who ever is leading to place which particular bard into which group. I know bards are awesome puller.. but because our guild at the beginning were short of bards.. we usually keep them with the raid (ae resists and mana song). and let a monk pull.. occasionally myself and the monk work together via lulling and pulling to split.. its fun actually to have 3 bards in a raid.. the one with SM3 goes with the MA, myself, since I have "call of the muse" end up with the an all caster group... just love those nuking and doting :) the third is usually doing ae resists when required.. or strictly meleeing songs.

Too often I have lost my patience with groups like that. One LDoN where they didnt want me pulling and was saying things like "manasong only pls" I had stopped all songs for two pulls and the group was talking about the fights being much hard then before. I then started to twist again and after the next pull all I said was "are you sure you only want mana song?"

We are the most missunderstood class in the game.

I was in a 65 group a couple of days ago and one of the characters (a great wizard with whom I've played previously) wrote: /gsay (Wizard) "Who do we have to mezz?" /gsay (Luteson) /tell Luteson (Wizard) "LOL ... as soon as I hit enter I wanted to hit myself." He really knew, just sort of forgot. It's easy to do given all the things we are capable of bringing to a group. One thing really has surprised me in LDoN. There are still a good number of people who have rarely or never grouped with a bard, even at lvl 65. Is there a shortage of bards?

Well, I am a bard, and I'm on Stromm. I'm new, but working my way up. I'm too low for grouping with you but give me a Hail anyways. :) Aamiani

fellow Stromm bard here too :) *lol* I was in a PoM kite group the other day having a fantastic time.. we get a replacement wizzie.. anyway after one or two mobs he asks me why manasong is stopping and starting every now and then.. I said um...I am twisting 3 dots as well.... Honestly he thought I was just standing there playing manasong... :cry: :mad:

On Bristlebane, it seems there are too many bards. /o 52nd bard looking for anything... *travels to various zones. /o 52nd bard looking for anything... *travels to more various zones. *looks at the time, noting an hour has passed. *logoff bard / login another character. /o XX level looking for anything... *attempts to answer the numerous tells. So unless I am blacklisted for some reason as a poor bard, I rarely play any longer. >>>>>Axlrose - ...<<<<<

I'm always finding myself in situations where I have to give up a role to some other character. Really, I'm happiest in a situation where I can pull, CC, haste, slow, and sing manasong plus maybe one more melee buff, without having to worry about the shaman slowing, or the chanter CCing, or the ranger snaring, or the monk pulling. Give me a cleric and 4 warriors any day! :D My question is, is there a single article or post somewhere that says what a bard can do for a group, e.g. classified by CC, pulling, haste/slow, buffing, DoTs, etc? I'd love to be able to direct group members there when they seem ignorant, and particularly so they can assess their own effectiveness so we can work out who should do what.