I do think the masterwork gearing is compelling and would be more compelling with some big event or dungeon... One could even say raid, to do.
I think the issue some people might have is that the loot that is the most build defining are components. Which have no cosmetic value at all.
I still really enjoy the core gameplay. I still go "Damn that was cool" when I'm in combat with a titan and I pull off some sick aerial maneuver to maximize damage output on weak points, all while dodging attacks. It really is a feeling like no other. Kinda like how Sea of Thieves doesn't have an equal when it comes to water physics and how that plays into sailing.
More bugs being reintroduced from the Day 8 patch does really suck though. Hopefully Bioware can just keep communicating and pushing out fixes.
I'm most certainly not buying the game right now. I'll wait out this month of premier and really see where the games at. I'm already intrigued at the potential of the game, don't fuck it up.
Yeah the lack of any real visual/cosmetic variety in any part of the game besides the paint jobs/materials is what has me so disappointed.
Components and Abilities have 0 visual variance for obvious reasons and take up most of your gear slots.
No armor drops until they add the vanity stronghold stuff later.
Even Legendary guns are just base guns with a nicer skin and bonus abilities.
If even one of these things were tweaked to give me some meaningful visual variety with loot I would be happy.
There should never be a loot game where you don't run into instances where you see someone else wearing/using something cool looking
that piques your interest. That is just such a core element of loot games to me, going back decades to the first time I saw something like a Lavis Cannon in PSO.