For me, because Crafting is just AWESOMLY interesting.

I'm an old WoW player and I always tought "wtf... I do click a button and I have ma craft done?". This part of FFXIV is so cool I hardly have time for other things (well, except Fishing... I LOOOVE fishing).

But that is personal taste and I can understand other players do not like it.

However, there is some objective arguments for crafting :

- make ton of gils
- make more ton of gils
- make even more ton of gils

If you want a big house, it's pretty difficult to reach it without crafting. You can either trade on MB (I've won tens of millions playing on the materias prices), or you can craft (I've also sold for tens of millions on MB with crafting).

If you dont want a big house and dont feel crafting is fun, then you should concentrate on what you like. Maybe it's pvp, maybe it's dungeons. Dont push you too hard. Crafting is not mandatory at all