An even simpler version would be ok you unlocked this style of say pants, and it has various ways it can be hemmed or rolles up or dyed or have accessories mounted to it, and there are accompanying in game mechanics for being able to do all that.
So is your issue that people who don’t pay still have to download the content to see it on other players?
Would you be okay with a certain color of pants that’s only accessible through outside purchase of a dye (i.e. one that cannot be traded)? That way other users don’t need to download the dye, but they do need to have code on their machines to display that color.
The whole point here is to separate yourself from the unwashed masses, it doesn’t matter as much what the character looks like. It’s why the whole “blue bubble” vs “green bubble” thing is a thing, it’s a separation between “classes” of people in a sense.
It does have DLC. This is a far better funding and development model than MTX.
DLC is the same thing, especially since so many are simply enabling a license for existing content. For example, I can play maps I don’t have the DLC for provided the host has it, which means one of two things is happening:
I download the map when I connect, but still can’t access it w/o the license to do so
The map is already downloaded (that’s how most work) and I just load it up when the host verifies their license
The only difference is where the DLC is purchased (and maybe when the data is downloaded), and many games let you buy the DLC directly through the game. DLC can also be delisted, so what you seem to be asking for is for games w/ MTX to just jump through some extra hoops.
That is not a sense of fashion, that is just flaunting your wealth in am ostentatious, crude and immature manner.
That’s what fashion is, and why “fashionable” things are expensive. People don’t buy Rolex watches because they work better or look cooler than cheaper options, they buy them because they’re expensive and others recognize that they’re expensive. These usually have a level of quality to them, but they’re rarely more durable or have more utility than cheaper options.
We treat it differently because we give it a different name, but at the end of the day, those fancy stores (MK, Coach, etc) are the “poor people’s” designers and a way to flaunt some level of wealth (e.g. my in-laws gave me a ~$400 wallet from Burberry, which was functionally equivalent to other $50 wallets), and rich people do the same but with more private labels. I think I have successfully convinced my inlaws that I feel incredibly uncomfortable with such things (my current wallet cost $15-20, and I like it much better), but they still like buying that crap for themselves, despite being relatively poor (they live in an apartment, I live in a nice house).
It’s the same thing, people like to look successful to other people and flaunt what they have. It’s why so many rap songs boast about how much money they have, why celebrity awards ceremonies are largely about the fancy designer clothes they’re wearing, and why luxury cars are so popular (I see a lot more luxury cars in apartment complexes than my middle to upper-middle class neighborhood). For certain types of people, flaunting wealth is the point, it makes them feel wealthy, even if they’re up to their eyeballs in debt. I see exactly the same thing in upper-middle to upper-class neighborhoods, which is why I prefer to stick to the middle-class neighborhoods.
The same exact thing is happening with these games. People like to flaunt wealth, and that comes in a ton of forms.