Crossbows completely fail to satisfy the ranger class fantasy, as badly as the quickly abandoned macuahuitls failed to satisfy the PLD class fantasy. Think of the classic archers in fantasy and other popular media, and think of their weapons of choice. Robin Hood, Legolas, Green Arrow, Hawkeye, etc. I can't even think of a crossbow user other than Guts, and I hope you can agree that the class fantasy most associated with Guts is not, uh, ranger. Almost nobody wants crossbows except when brainstorming hypothetical ranged weapons. Archers and rangers need to use actual bows if they're spun off, or nobody will be happy with the result.