If you are looking at these threads to learn about EQII...and more specifically bards (dirges/troubadors) in EQII, keep in mind that pretty much anything written before July and much before October is probably seriously outdated.
www.thescoutssanctuary.com has pretty current information about scouts (bards are a subset of scouts) in EQII.
Admittedly, it doesn't have near the traffic this board had in its heyday, but usually you can find and get answers there.
Major live updates in July, September and November have significantly changed the way post 40 bards are played in EQII. The entire game has evolved, but while there is differentiation of toons from level 3 up, bards don't hit their stride as really unique toons till the mid 40's and beyone...IMHO.
There have been significant improvements in mechanics of the game. (you occaisionally find mobs attacking you through walls, or from 3 feet under ground...surprising, eh?)
As in EQI, bards now make a huge impact on group effectiveness. Because of the diversity and balance in EQII. You can have a dirge, troubador and enchanter (coercer/illusionist) in the same group and dps/effectiveness doesn't suffer. The major difference, is, for the most part, that there are no heroic acts available to most toons....a bard is not gonna kite 30 adds while a raid regroups, for instance, nor is he gonna highsun out a group killing add. He won't charm kite 2 levels a day, either. He can do small bit of crowd controll, but its nowhere near the impact it was in EQI.
In addition, other than perhaps, a healer, there is no must have class for most full group activities in EQI. (A collection of any type of toons can adventure some place...I am talking taking even and higher con group content.) Granted a tank/healer/dps is still the most efficient makeup...there are so many types of toons that can serve these functions, its usually not a problem as long as you have a little diversity (almost assured).
I had a dirge/pally/boxed templar/warden(druid) group last night, none of which are pure dps, or even second tier dps. However, because of the balance (everyone gets some offense) we plowed thru even con heroic (group) mob content getting the same exp per hour of a more traditional group.
Many of the knocks against dirges and troubadors you may have read in the first 7-9 months just no longer exist. Both are very valuable in groups, both solo well, both now raid well even if there is another bard or 2 or 3 (unlikely on the three...bards are still a tad rare) in the raid.
EQII in general will be interesting in the next few months. Tons of toons have reached or are reaching the current cap (level 60) and they have messed with raiding quite a bit. Will the latest tweaks be enough to keep these hard cores interested? With the 50 cap, many got bored and lost interest (a significant % have returned)...will the same thing happen at 60?
There are a lot of quests in the latest expension. They are unique and interesting, but the rewards, to my way of thinking, are usually not as good as foraging your a$$ off and getting rares for armor/weps/spells. As I get deeper in, I may change my mind...I'm one kill away from a magic carpet, although like horses, bards really don't need one.
Would I stat flat out that EQII is 'better' than EQI. Absolutely not...if I were playing I and happy and not bored, no way I'd change. Nevertheless, in a year, they have incorporated diversity and depth that I think it took a couple of years in EQI to get.
EQII's development appears more customer driven, where, in its early life at least, EQI was more drive by 'the vision' if that makes sense. That has some dangers, every group seems to get a lot of what they want at some point or another. I am surprised they haven't completely screwed the game up at some point or another. Certainly this stuff isn't instant, and some fixes take forever, and others never come. In addition, you hear the same whines about nerfs, of what some other class got, but its more cliche' driven than real. When the nerf bat swings, often the boards for that class have been expecting it for some time. For instance, Ranger kiting and over powered abilities were hit recently...but they gave them some things to compensate and most rangers, after learning new techniques, appear happy (berserkers, imo, gotta be on the upcoming nerfs list).
In the last major update, dirges got the str stat on one song nerfed a little and received reduce cast times on their major mob group debuffs. I was happy with the trade. There have a lot of 'fixes' that take some of the monotony out of playing....I still press a lot of keys, through an average figh I imagine nearly as many as twisting in EQI, although they are all varied cast times and its spread amongst 12-16 different 'spells'.
I could ramble on forever, but if you got this far you have suffered enough. I'll check back and answer any questions I can, and I am sure there are folks who disagree with me as well.