We unfortunately interact with our turrets LESS in Stormblood.

It IS a pet, but it's not a pet. I wouldn't mind if there were a turret hotbar per se, but that would change the dynamic of the job a lot, and for something already drastically changed from what it started as, a third change probably wouldn't be well accepted, especially for a job that's struggled in popularity since inception.

As a different idea, I wouldn't be against more gadgetry (not chainsaws and drills and such, more techy than that), even if only in attack animations. Kinda like the current Heated Clean Shot.