I am no FactoryTalk View expert by any means, but I often run into buggy problems when running FactoryTalk View and other associated PLC software.
True, you will not see the 'bits' of an associated output or input card... but I have found that you can select the base card that you want to use, then manually type in the bit ".0" or ".4" or whatever bit you wanted to use into the connection you wanted to display. Seems to work for me.
Also, with the unable to save tag database error when creating a runtime program, I have found that a reboot of the laptop fixes that problem.
I haven't been using this software forever, but I have been since version 3... and it has always been particularly buggy.. especially with its RSLinx Enterprise / RSLinx Classic relationship... can be painful at times.