Why is Housing Such a High Priority?

[Alukah]

I really fail to see all that time, effort, and resources you claim they put into housing.

If you're wondering about the importance of housing, it works pretty much the same as mini games or side quests, to keep you from burning content too fast or keeping you entertained if you already burned through content.

You say that "I just feel like it should take a major back seat to other content", but where do we draw the line? They will always be working on battle content, if they went with that no other content would ever get released, side content would always be delayed in favor of vertical progress / new classes.