Why do Vanity items / Player housing / Pets exist?

[Enkidoh]

I agree with OP.

ARPGs don't have any of that useless stuff and they do just fine, as a genre. There's hundreds of other places where the resources would be better spent, but unfortunately we have to contend with a crowd that wants to collect pets and build houses. Unfortunately for us, there are many people who want that kind of stuff, so they need to dedicate time and money to it. It sucks, but that is what it has come to, in 2013. People rather build houses and collect useless crap then go kill monsters, which is the essence of a Final Fantasy game. Of course, detractors will somehow find a way to invalidate my point, but it is the absolute truth.

Final Fantasy is about exploring and killing monsters, not building a house. You cannot deny that.

WRONG - in FFVII you could buy President Shinra's summer house in Costa del Sol for 300 000 gil, although it was completely optional (all it did was give you free alternative accommodation to the inn), but it was still a nice thing to have.

And this game is not just about killing monsters and exploring - FFXIV is however the player wants to play it. If that means to some players (like myself! ) having nice clothes and a house, then who are you to complain about that?

[Cigaran]

Most of these things that keep the player enjoying and engaged with the game during times when the player has finished all the content that they wish to do while waiting on new content.

As far as player housing goes, I've played games where the community that grew up around the housing aspect of the game is what kept many of them playing when they admittedly would have canceled their accounts without that element. Typically in an MMO, the average player is going to invest a ton of time playing over the life of the title. That player is going to become attached to the game world and the character(s) they play in that world. Giving options to customize part of the world around them gives the player that much more of a connection and new ways to identify with their characters. The same really goes for vanity items but on a personal level as opposed to the community aspect of housing.

Pets are a similar idea in that it offers the player a goal they can set and work towards outside of the normal content of the game. Maybe you want to get every last Minion possible. Maybe your goal is only to collect those that are a nod towards classic Final Fantasy elements. Maybe you only go after those found in Gridania. The whole point is, it's allowing the player to customize their game experience, set their own goals, and to then have a reward for attaining those goals.

The long and short of it is that many, if not most, players will eventually tire of the quest-kill-quest cycle that every MMO is made up of. By offering alternatives to that such as housing, crafting, collecting minions, or what have you, you offer a way for the player to remain playing and enjoying the game when they would have otherwise closed their account and moved on to a new game.

TL;DR

Some of us tire of the endless kill-loot-kill mentality and would like an alternative to that that allows us to remain playing a game we like. While you see this as a waste of resources, the same could be said about the upcoming PvP system. Regardless though, every aspect of the game should be represented for the player base to enjoy.