The emblems, shaders and ship are visible in the kiosks and the exotics are visible are in the armoury. So they are in the game, but they're not available. And that's why people are annoyed. As for the look of your character - I think that's massively important! If it was just about getting the gear you NEED (in the context of 'needing' anything in a video game!) as opposed to the gear you WANT then the game would be a lot simpler. Have you never stumbled across a guardian and thought 'wow that shader is cool, where do I get it?' or seen an emblem and thought 'wow that guy has the scarab emblem, he must be a big deal in the crucible'? These are the things that keep 90% of the Destiny population interested in grinding over, and over, and over. I know I often put on different bits of armour because they look cool and it's a balance between stats and being an OG.