Actually, here is my Black Helicopter(tm) Theory:

Somewhere, somehow, sometime along the way (of development) agi, dex, str
got nerfed. I think that it was Verant's original intention to make these
stats have an effect on player skills. Else, why would they have them on
char building screens and give you the ability to allocate bonus points.
Also, why would they have so many items with agi +3, dex +3, etc. But in
the end, in the world of Norrath that we know, level is god, ac is king,
resists are you best friends and when your skills are maxed, agi, dex and
str are pretty meaningless beyond a decent base.

So, given that, what good are songs that buff agi, dex and str? The intent
is there but the execution is lacking. If str actually did something - woo
hoo! Chant and Anthem and Berzerker would be those awesome buffs you note
the lack of.

Sylly

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kimes, Dean W." <dean_kimes@...>
To: <eqbards@onelist.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 11:23 AM
Subject: RE: [eqbards] Bards abilities redefined was: Attack speedups

> Okies, I'll go for it. I'll use Verant's general idea of a bard as a
start
> though, don't want to start that whole why the heck can we wear plate
> argument again.
>
> Primary: Group buffs
> Secondary: Melee
> Tertiary: everything else
>
> Why don't I think this is true currently? Because Verant overvalues the
> fact that our songs do not require mana. To make it true would require
them
> to realize their error. We should be able to group buff a party at 5
levels
> or so below what the other buffers can do to make it truly a primary
> ability. Currently many of our buffs are so far behind the equivalent
buffs
> from other classes that unless the fighting is continuous it is better for
> the other classes to buff up and med.