This is kind of a response to the Fear/Chain thread but kind of not..

I need to note an observation that I have made about how easily Bards can be
misunderstood, and miss-played. There are basically two types of skills to
develop while playing EQ. Character skill (e.g. high 1h slash skill) and
Player skill (the ability to twist songs, and juggle equipment).

While there is a limited number of actual character skills out there, the
number of techniques that a Player can implement are vast. Knowing which
songs to load for an area, knowing the areas layout all make your character
more successful. Classes like warrior (not to knock them) are inherently
more Character based and less Player based. This is why I think that most
of us are drawn to bards in the end. We can put more of ourselves into our
characters.

I know that if I were to give my account to a newbie player he would have a
lot of investigating and dying to do before he/she (the person not the
character) would have the skill to wield the character in an effective way.

On the other hand, a Warrior (the opposite of the spectrum) given to a
player would be relatively easy for them to catch on to.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that everyone who plays a Bard may not (be
able to or even want to) become the song twisting keyboard mouse Ninja that
will bring the most out of their Character. But everyone has that chance.
And I like it. If practicing difficult techniques to work around that tough
monster gets nerfed, it will be a really sad day. I hope IM not rambling
too much, but I think you'll get my point.

Sevin 19th Human Bard
on Brell