Meta should never be enforced in regular play... I have seen Machinists do 3.5k DPS on Lakshmi Ex, and conversely I've seen SAMs go 2.5k DPS.

Outside high-end play, compositions are going to matter very little compared to player skill.

While Machinists definitely need help in terms of making them more desirable in party compositions, in no way is it an unviable class for farming current extremes and most likely even the upcoming Savage. Locking them out of run-of-the-mill farm parties is just silly.