Looks haven’t been cornerstone of progression for many many years. I recall doing a bunch of battlegrounds in WoW for shoulders that had some sort of smoke coming off them. That was probably over 15 years ago, those shoulders are crap now regardless.

I will say personally I’ve grown to enjoy a transmog system and even putting in effort for a fun or appeasing looking character. It wasn’t something I did many years ago.

However to each their own, I kinda like swtor to play dress up. Not a bad game overall either unsure about end game I mostly just make new characters and play the story.