Having grouped with a Mage for 51 Levels, I figure I should share my
opinion on the subject. :)

First of all, it's bad players, not bad classes. Period. If you
take a Bard who's soloed his way to 50 (/laugh), I'd be willing to
bet he's not a very good group player. So, Mage's, Necro's, Druids
all have a slight disadvantage in that they can solo, so they might
not pick up the group acceptable behaviors along the way, while Bards
are generally forced to group and thus forced to figure out HOW to
group.

Pet classes in particular have a little more trouble in that their
pets aren't smart. But, knowing how dumb pets are, a good mage can
control him... and pets have gotten smarter over the course of
commercial. I remember when they'd run off if sent to attack a
red. :)

Sounds like this mage in particular needs to be taught how to
a) /assist b) /pet back off and c) understand that he/she does not
have to get the kill. There are bugs with assist, so having
an /assist key is not foolproof. Being aware of their role what's
going on is a definite advantage. :)

I've always thought that a group of 4 mages, 1 bard and 1 cleric in
the right spot could mow thru mobs and exp so fast, it'd be
unbelievable. We often group with no tanks, letting the pet be the
primary tank... I wouldn't recommend it for most dungeon settings,
but in controlled settings (usually outdoor, but not always - said
mage and I controlled The Kly room alone) it works great.

Darkfox Reven'tsol
Xegony