ok guys, I really don't have time to review each and every argument in this topic (however I have read the whole conv).

My point is, as it has been said, in some games such as WoW, Fable, AC D:OS and D2, housing is a big feature. In some games it is even part of the story (I really liked what they did on D2 even if you get the tower a bit late in the game IMO). It is a place that belong to you, it is a place that you can, usually, customize.
Furthermore it is often a rest time in your exhausting adventure, like right after defeating a boss, you take some times at your home talking to NPC, emptying your bags, hanging trophies, cleaning the floor... oops well you get the idea.

I am not saying that EVERY RPG MUST have housing, it will really depend on how it is made, what you can do in it and its importance in the story. And I assume that if Larian set housing as a stretch goal it means that they ill have to somehow change the script to include it in the game especially considering that your home is nothing less than the Hall of Echoes...

"-Oh that's fullmoon, cuttie cuttie sheep
-baaaaaaOOOOORGH"
***Sprotch***

Weresheeps will rule the world (At least one night every 29 days)