I'm largely with you -- I don't want a kazillion stitches because I don't use/need many of them in my quilting. For the most part, I just want a strong straight stitch for piecing. I joke that I don't really sew, I just quilt.
One "fancy" stitch that my vintage machines don't have but I use a lot on newer machines is the "serpentine" (multi-stitch zig zag sort of). I find that works very well for grid quilting my typically busy scrappy quilts. It would be a loss to lose that ability.
One use for fancy repeat designs is on bindings, especially on baby quilts.
I did program my fancy machine to personalize my husband's bowling towels when I was trying out modern (as opposed to vintage) life.