> I agree that all of our songs are temporary. But I would point out that all
> spells in the game are temporary, with the exception of Bind.

This is true. But unlike spells, which can be cast and forgotten about for
long periods of time, Bard songs must be continuously sung to work
effectively. A song that could be sung and have a permanent effect would be
contrarian to the way the class works. Forgetting game balance and all other
issues, a binding song just makes no sense in the world of Norrath.

> Heck, if we had 6 or 7 combat skills like the other 3 hybrids, I'd agree that
> Bind would be completely inappropriate. But really, it would be like saying,
> Clerics can't have bind because the Rangers would be pissed! We're a breed
> apart.

Indeed we are a breed apart. As another poster has written we are "no-class."
I would almost say that there are four types of player classes in EQ:
casters, melee, hybrids, and bards. True, we don't have the combat skills
that the 3 hybrids do. But we can do some pretty amazing things to
compensate. We don't use mana like the other hybrids (Dirge excepted). We
can reduce downtime like no other class in the game. We can fill wildcard
spots in just about any group: from crowd control to tanking. To give us
these combat skills would unbalance us wildly, and the next thing you know all
the kewl d00dz would be playing bards.

I would love a binding song. I would love better combat skills. But I
honestly think that beefing us up in either of these areas would cause other
classes to call foul...and probably result in a suite of unwanted nerfs for
the bard class.