Originally Posted by
CKNovel
"MCH has so little gameplay with the gun, no mechanics about the gun and no gauge related to gunner but adding gunner would be a waste."
I disagree there.
MCH got flipping abilities in Stormblood and the gadgets around Flamethrower and heat gauge. SQEX finally choose path towards the use of Machines and I don't doubt we'll see no Gun related abilities anymore.
The rework split the community, on one side there is those who wants more Gunplay and on the other those who wants Machines for Machinist.
Current MCH has nothing to do with Gunner jobs in past FF beyond a gun. And it was never meant to be a gunner, but a "Gadgeteer" which did not worked at all.
Unless you want a community complaning about MCH not being a gun job, a true Gunner job is a good choice. You even explicitly say
Let's not forget that Samurai, Paladin and Dark knight uses a sword but their gameplay are widely different mainly because they use different weapons, that would be the same for Gunner and Machinist.
And if we follow your logic, there is no other ranged that could fit, Puppeteer is far too close to MCH, Ranger far too close to BRD. At most you could see a whip based job but that would be a unique one.
More than that, a 4th ranged might be the best timing to balance the ranged role overall.
I'd personally would welcome Gunner, might try it but not making it a main job, my love relies in Machines. But 5.4 might be a bit early to tease a new job? Alisaie teased Red Mage in 3.4 but that wasn't as advanced as Merlwyb's animations.