Your words will ring very true for many bards out there--myself included.
I have been stuck at my 48th song for nearly a month, as I find it
nearly impossible to find a group. Yes, they all take the other classes
we imitate before us, yes few people understand what we can do...but
there is something else I have noted.
Sure, it may take me forever to find a group, being treated as a
secondary hole-filler, but I have rarely seen groups fight so hard to
keep a leaving member as when the bard says goodbye. When the enchanter
leaves, they raise a stink, and when the only tank in a caster-heavy
group tries to go they do their darndest not to let him, but the only
class I have seen that spends more time convincing their group that they
*really* have to go is the cleric.
The last group I was in had two bards and an enchanter. And even though
there were two of us, when I tried to leave *at 3:30 am!* it took me
another ten minutes to convince them that I really was too tired to be
effective. At one point, they had let their only healer, a shaman, go
without a fight. The main puller left thirty seconds after he announced
it with little more than goodbyes. And I, the lowly unwanted bard, hard
to pry my lambent-clad arms out of their sticky little fingers.
One think to keep in mind is the group I was in--of six of us, the
original group was four members of Da'Kor, one of Midnight Sojourn, and
myself. On Erollisi Marr, no matter what people's opinions of the guilds
are, these are generally considered two of the most accomplished (if not
*the* most accomplished) guilds out there. The bards I know in both
guilds are truly amazing, people whose shadows are more daunting than
most people's presences. And though I am not half the bard any of them
are, the guild members they have trained to appreciate them also
appreciated me. Da'Kor actually has only one bard, Elwyn, (/em waves)
who is generally considered to be the best bard on the server. It takes
a good bard (or beyond good, in Elwyn's case, ;P) to teach people how to
appreciate a bard. And sadly, there are so few good bards out there. So
it is left up to all us mediocre bards to educate people :)
One specific response to Melaniel, re the below comment; there are a few
things to keep in mind. First, many people have bard songs turned off,
so if, for some reason, they turn them back on, they are completely
mystified by the messages. This particular message would make most
people think *warrior* not *bard*--might you see how that could be
confusing? In addition, not all bards choose to play that particular
song in whatever situation. By some weird twist of fate, they may never
have heard the sogn played before, and then the message would, again, be
confusing. A lot of people also do not realize that bard songs last past
the actual time of singing, which *might* explain their comfusion over it
wearing off. If you had never thought about it before, you might be a
little at a loss, yourself. Perhaps they really are as uneducated as
they seemed, but I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. I
hope you taught them well what a bard is and does, and that the next bard
that encounters them will thank their trainer for her efforts ;P
>After
>some explaining, they realised that was a song message wearing off.
>But to make it to 50+ and not ever know that bard songs are temporary,
>or even see that message before?
-High Lady Karisma Swiftarrow
Guildmistress, Hearts of Valor
http://www.heartsofvalor.com/
Visit Swiftarrow's Song at
http://www.freespeech.org/karisma
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