If you're only doing edge-to-edge or freehand quilting, then no, you don't need a ruler base. But as soon as you want to do stitch-in-the-ditch or any custom work with rulers, then most definitely yes! I personally love ruler work, so I have a base for each of my machines. Occasionally I take it off and forget to put it back on when I need to use a ruler, and it most definitely does NOT work well without!! ;-)
Andi