Part of the charm of playing a Bard, or any other character for that matter, lies in the fact that you can play a particular kind of
character. What he
is is just as important as what he can
do in combat. Unless you have no interest in roleplaying, playing a Bard gives you the chance to be a poet, a singer, a storyteller, and/or a charismatic adventurer with lots of flair. Other classes have an identity of their own that is just as strong--Rangers, Paladins, Monks, Barbarians, etc. I don't think the Kensai class is easily identifiable on its own merits just because most "Sword Saints" are dual-classed, which means that most people don't really care what a Kensai is supposed to be like. Multi-classing also has a way of obscuring the meaning of the various classes. That's one reason why a Bard should not be confused with a multi-class character; a Bard is always a Bard.
Bards do have their weaknesses, and a lot of experimentation is required to figure out how to take advantage of their strengths. But Bards have a lot of natural advantages. For example, they advance more rapidly than most classes (they use the Thief experience table) and much faster than multi-class characters. If a Bard and a Mage have the same number of experience points, a Bard can do more damage with a Fireball spell because he's higher in level. A Bard might get a little more protection from Stoneskin, and spells whose duration depends on level will last a little longer. Additionally, Blades have special abilities (Offensive Spin and Defensive Spin) that come in handy at early levels. Melf's Minute Meteors combined with Offensive Spin enables an unarmed 8th Level Blade to do more damage per round than most other characters of the same level.
When battles get tough, as they often do, a Bard's relatively poor THAC0 (they use the Thief table) and relatively poor Armor Class (their armor is restricted if they want to use spells) make a Bard a poor choice as a frontline warrior; but that's what Fighters are for. Bards can fall back on special magic items such as wands and scrolls, or they can use Bard Song to help their party.
When I played with a party of Bards, I had a lot of trouble with the Crypt King in the Graveyard District and the Demon Knights in the Underdark, since those tend to be melee-intensive battles. But other battles were easy, such as the demon in the Svirfneblin village. A Resist Fear spell, a few Lower Resistance spells, and a bunch of Magic Missiles made the battle short and easy. If you do a search, you can find some messages I wrote a while back describing how a party of Bards could defeat a demi-lich. I'm not the best player in the world, but Bards have many talents.
[QUOTE=fable]taking out a solo bard without that knowledge of what to expect around every corner would be pretty suicidal, and that leads me to think it isn't the bard that really makes the difference, but the walkthrough in the player's mind...
Since bards are inherently weak, playing through BG2 with one in a party actually adds a strategic challenge...[/QUOTE]
I don't disagree with you on those points. But soloing ANY character without knowing what's around every corner has a tendency to be suicidal, as you put it.
And as for adding a strategic challenge when you play a Bard, I think that's partially the point in doing it. It gives your brain more work to do, and that makes the game more fun.