I think players are gradually becoming aware that Reaper is the weakest melee dps in terms of output at present. That being said, the job was overwhelmingly popular at launch on account of it having fantastic aesthetics, the single best movement ability in the game, and just being all around good fun. They'll probably keep it on the lower end at least until the FotM players finish saturating SAM/NIN next tier. It's better for the job in the long run. Let them beg for buffs, as long as the margins between jobs remains relatively small it's just motivation to beat them by being smarter about uptime and solid on your fundamentals.