I believe Square Enix dropped the ball here. What should have happened is Housing should have cost 10% of what it does currently BUT Housing furniture should have cost 1000% more.
This would have created a boom in the currently dead Economy. It would give Crafters and Gatherers something to actually do. At the moment no one is buying furniture as no one can afford a house. And the furniture is that cheap to create its ridiculous. There is going to be no demand for materials with the current cost to craft everything is so dismally small.
As to the PVP gear it might be useful on new characters, but the stat cut to use the PVP gear over nearly everyones current gear negates the point of wearing it.
PVP gear should be for PVP only, PVE gear should be PVE only. They should not cross over. This would force people to buy or craft their own gear which would also stimulate the Economy.
I'm a crafter and have been since the start of FFIV, I've cancelled my 2 subs as there is nothing to strive to achieve for me at this time. Hopefully crafting will get revisited after you see the Economy collapse even further than it currently is.