> First of all, it's bad players, not bad classes. Period.

YUP!!! Agreed 100%

> 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.

Actually the Bard is the 2nd or 3rd best Solo Class. Especially after level
26 and 27. And even before that you can easily solo any blue with a well
played bard.

> 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.

See above. Bards are, hands down, one of THE best solo classes in the game.
We are also one of the best GROUP classes. My bard can out-solo a magician
any day of the week until a magician hits level 40 or so.

Your points are valid regarding players who solo rather than group. However
I dissagree that casters have a harder time learning to solo. Bards are
easily as powerful (and in many cases far more powerful) as any caster at
Solo play except perhaps the Necromancer and Druid classes yet we learn to
operate in groups just fine. Many people, even bards, don't realize just
how powerful we are as a Solo class. Even Druids and Necros have a hard
time soloing hill giants. Yet a bard can do it easily enough starting at
around level 30 if we have 2 giants.

I agree completely that it's the player, not the class, that makes ANY
character good, or bad, in a group. I have grouped with good magicians, bad
magicians and the whole range in between. Same goes for EVERY other class
in the game, including bards. In fact, I'd honestly say, I've met more bad
bard players than any other class barring Necros. (And they DO have a
harder time learning to group because nobody wants a necro -until recently-)

Lyrnia Jongleur
Bard of Norrath since Beta 2