Why do Vanity items / Player housing / Pets exist?

[LiquidOuroboros]

Just realized that OP is actually saying: "I dont like strawberry Milkshake, therefore - noone should make them. Because - you know - *I* dont like them and thats all that matters"

[Khaleon]

Having homes, pets, vanity gear, ect is as old as MMOs literally. Look at how many folks in UO had homes, tamed dragons or kirin, rare dungeon drops shown off in their house or paperdoll. FFXI had fairly customizable housing where you were actually REWARDED for the type of furniture you had in your house. EQ2 was almost equal to UO in terms of the amount of fluff you could find. Rift has housing that some people manage to make more entertaining than the developers themselves could, plus pets, vanity gear, ect. That isn't even touching AC1, Atlantica Online, Second Life, and the multitude of other MMOs.

Many people look to MMOs not for the combat but for an escape from reality, be it because of family, social, financial, or health reasons. As a company you aim for the largest cut of pie you can get, and that entails getting those folks who want to make a game into their second world. Look at Skyrim, a single player RPG that has some of the most in-depth housing customization on the market, it didn't need to have housing, but some people have spent more time just working on their homes than they have the main story line. Just because one group may not like fluff do not make the fluff crowd outright wrong.

[Yoohre_WildRiver]

because after a hard day of mob figthing, primal killing, dungeon grinding hard labor day, is nice to come to a warm home and be greeted by the smile of a goobue sproutling or the gentle purr of a baby behemoth.

i dont think is wasted development at all, its a nice addition for CRAFTER style players, i myself like battle content and crafting content, i play them and enjoy both aspects equally.

[RyuPower]

Vanity items
you like a look of a set but it too weak to use end game
Vanity items will will you keep the look of the old set be use the newer sets

Player housing
a place you can go with a party that is safe and private
and there a lot more then it just being a house
you can do many other things a you player house
chocobo breeding will most likely be done there
crafting might get a bonus when you craft at you player house, with the tools in the house

minions
are like trophies

[LlenCoram]

God forbid anyone likes things you don't like.

[CrystalRainbow]

I'm playing a MMORPG and I role play with friend and family.
I don't care about having the best gear.
I don't care about getting everything done because then what is left?

I understand MMOs are meant to be a slow burn not a finish in 10-70 hours of game play.

[BooskiBoo]

... Stop wasting dev resources in "Player Housing" - Why should I care about a housing area that's just a deliberate attempt at adding more padding to time-consumption.

You kinda answered your own question. Why do you play any game that matter if not for passing time?

Besides, there'S great demand for this added "padding to time-comsumption". People want to build fantasy dream homes. Isn't that the point of it all? Fantasy?

[Seig345]

MMORPG
RPG
RPG

Also, because diversity.

Edit: Also, that MMO part of MMORPG, the part that means it's an RPG with lots of people playing in the same world at the same time, has far more implications other than "people to fill up the other 3/7 slots so I can go in dungeons". The very nature of an RPG changes when it becomes a perpetual world with real people who have tastes that differ from your own.

[Reslin]

I'd like some insight as to who thought that we all "wet" ourselves in excitement over "cute" pets, mounts, and sunshades.

MMO gamers gone soft? - Is this the norm for Japanese games to include full on vanity, or housing?. What is going on.

Please someone explain the reasoning behind all of this, and why it has started to become a big thing in all MMORPGs?

What are you talking about? MMO's did stuff like this for a long time. When did you start playing mmos? In fact, many recent mmo's STOPPED doing this and no one understood why.

[Amenian]

Welcome to the world of RPGs? I mean, hell, even Skyrim had an entire expansion dedicated to housing.