So what exactly are "hosts?" in venues?

[DeNada]

In Japan there are bars called Host and Hostess clubs where you're essentially paying money, by buying overpriced alcohol, for the companionship of said host/hostess. It's exactly "professional temporary friends" where an attractive person is there to pay hollow compliments and give companionship to lonely people. At the extreme end, customers can become regular "patrons" of said host/hostess and develop potentially pay-for-play relationships outside of the club. Not all workers are like that, but it is a thing. I visited one once with a friend when I lived there and will never go again. It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences I've ever had.

In the game, hosts/hostesses can be just the same as the real world counterpart or simply the one hosting the venue. Sometimes organized groups of people will work as staff; bartender, security, chef, etc where they may get paid Gil by the head of the group for their time working. Again, at the extreme end, there are people who are essentially virtual sex workers and get paid for that sort of thing. On the opposite end I run a bath house/spa venue so could be called the host for guests when it's open.

As for "on the clock RP only", it's not something I've encountered before. I've made player-to-player friendships and started RP stories with people staffing venues as well as with guests at my place. The only pay they get is for helping run the venue when it's open, but are completely open to RP and friendship outside business hours. Even if you go to a bar or club, you're not going to be paying the player directly; the event organizer's the "employer". I wouldn't worry about not being able to interact with people off-hours.

To be clear, the great majority of hosts/hostesses are the one(s) running a completely SFW venue and offer no "personal services".

Thanks for the explanation, that is very enlightening, coming from one who doesn't really engage with RP in-game.

Pardon me but could anyone help explain why one would pay for companionship in-game, when you can literally join a community or like group of like-minded friends via the various social channels available such as linkshells, free companies or even outside communities such as discord/forums etc..?

At least in real life, I can understand paying someone attractive for companionship but I literally can't wrap my mind around why one would do it in-game when there's no physical intimacy and it's just one toon engaging with another in conversation and people actually pay for that?