Thanks, Pam! yes, I saw now in another thread that you had mentioned those reasons (and I am soooo behind on reading stuff…).
If I may, asking for a “practical” reason to have chorus, octaver, reverb, etc. is perhaps the wrong way to look at it. I don’t have an octaver, but I have chorus and reverb now and I find them most of all “fun” to play with. Not always, not exclusively, but depending on the song or the mood you want to go for, they are really neat and even inspiring.
But, yes, if you are mainly going the “Howard” way, and for similar reasons, then I guess actual physical pedals are not necessary.
I guess we all go through these phases, where what once seemed gospel is now no longer relevant, but might become de rigueur again in a year or so; mostly following our better understanding of what is possible and what we want to achieve.
I wasn’t interested in pedals at all until a few months ago; as in NOT AT ALL. Now, I am happy with two cool real-life pedals I can touch and tweak the knobs and so on, and feel they are superior to plug-ins (without really knowing what some plug-ins can do) and I don’t have to use a mouse or even open my computer to enjoy a mighty reverb etc.
Anyhoo, this got a little long… thanks for elaborating and good luck with selling the whole package as one!!