originally they also did look like exotic gear, now most weapons are starting to look more exotic to make even legendaries stand out, the power level of legendaries has equalled too so exotics seem far less usefull and as some legendaries get a god roll which can do (give or take a few of the perks) the same job. so the exotic slot is far less used (and some exotics have almost no use now) compared to year 1.