I guess this topic, like many previous others on this list, is relative to
where you are fighting and what level you are. I'm 24th level and fighting
in the aviak village now. Of the 24 songs songs available to me, I have the
eight songs memorized which I think help me/my party the most. They are:
Selos: In case we need to flee
Teleport song: In case we need to get to the ground quickly from the top
roost. Trying to run all the way down the ramp is too risky
Hymm: to heal the party
Chain: slow down attacks and helps pull aviaks off of casters (darters and
above don't flee so you don't have to worry about that)
Lullaby: in case we get more than we can handle
Anthem: speed up attacks
Lament: in case we only want to fight one aviak at a time. comes in handy
when the top room is full.
Bellow or warsong: situation dependent.
Every one of these songs can help you in the situation I described (aviak
village). No way I'm gonna give one of them up to memorize Jig. I would
imagine that higher level bards have an even more difficult time deciding on
which eight songs to memorize.
Also, I think there is a distinction between educating other classes on how
best to group with a bard versus telling them how to play their character.
In other words, telling them to use /assist on the puller so they don't wake
up mobs you are sleeping with the lullaby song is not telling them how to
play their class (IMO). The first thing I always do when I group with
people I've never grouped with before is ask them how often they play with
bards. If they say rarely, I have a standard response I give in an attempt
to educate them.
In closing, I guess we can agree to disagree. If any bard out there is
willing to give up one of their eight song slots to play Jig for any reason
other than stamina gain, its your choice. For me personally, I won't do it.
Galtin of E'ci
> If they continue to insist I play the Jig, I tell them that would require
> me
> > to replace one of the eight songs that could actually benefit the group.
> If
> > they continue to insist I sing Jig, then I will leave the group. Their
> > peace of mind does not outweigh my desire to not die. Losing a valuable
> > song slot to play Jig when I know it has no effect increases my chance
> of
> > dying. Also, I never tell anyone how to play their character.
> Therefore, I
> > don't appreciate it when someone who has never played a bard tells me
> how to
> > play mine.
> >
>
> In any area where the MOBs take a long time to take down, I usually have
> Jig
> memorized. If my fatigue bar gets to 1/2, it's pretty certain that the
> tanks
> are down, also, and I really don't want to suffer the speed penalties of
> group
> fatigue in an extended fight, so I twist it in for awhile. Even in other
> circumstances, I will swap Jig in during downtime between fights if
> requested.
> Why not, if it makes people feel better. I don't think that we require
> all
> eight slots to be full of precisely the right songs in order to win
> fights, and
> I've never died thinking to myself "if only I had song X memorized, I
> would have
> lived". I've died for 100 other reasons (at least)! ;)
>
> As for your second point, I *always* tell other people how to play their
> characters, especially if they are unused to Bards. I've died FAR more
> often
> from other player's lack of playing sophistication than from having the
> Jig
> memorized. I do try to make my instruction impersonal and
> non-judgemental, but
> I would be a fool to assume that other players know what they're doing.
> (Actually, I've been that fool many times over, I just finally learned the
>
> lesson.)
>
> And yes, if they are NOT being impersonal and non-judgemental, I DO leave.
> Even
> if they are mistaken in thinking that I'm an idiot (I leave that to others
> to
> judge), I don't want to fight with a group that believes that that is the
> case.
>
> Kenross Cantoforjado, 27 songs, Innoruuk
>
>