I could see gathering more than crafting, perhaps have a sidequest that lets one of your minions harvest for you. You can have different minigames and a different list of possible harvestables from each minion. This would also give people a reason to collect more minions. I would love to be able to sit on my phone on my lunch break and play a puzzle for half an hour so when I log in that evening, my Pudgy Puk has brought me a bag of shards/ore/logs.