Bards are a no half-ways kind of class. You can be a mediocre cleric, war, rogue, etc. and still do a decent enough job that most people will never really notice any deficiencies. But Barding is a challenging enough job that most people are going to be either really amazing or completely sub-par. I think we see a lot more the sub-pars on P99 because of the ease of leveling a bard in swarm kites, something I don't remember seeing until at least Luclin on live. Live bards were usually very desirable in groups because they were strong pullers, could mez, keep mana song running and dps at the same time. (I don't remember bards or enchanters ever regularly charming on live). They leveled up via grouping rather than swarm kiting and were forced to develop those abilities.
Some of the most amazing and skilled players I can recall from live were bards. (Also two of my all-time favorite raid leaders).
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