That being said, absolutely everyone would like a skinning system, and fashionista has shown that this is technically possible.
So what’s stopping Funcom from implementing this?
Well. First it needs to fit into the lore.
" Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." - Conan
The Ymir Religion Trainer will agree with this sentiment.
Check.
Secondly, it needs to work with PvP. Let’s imagine a scenario where someone will chase you from the highlands into the snow biome… Well. Suddenly the difference between Exceptional Vanir Heavy Armor and Cold Legion Armor receives a strategic importance. So even if appearance slots were to be locked to armor archetypes, will this interfere with Funcom’s vision and design philosophy behind the armors?
There needs to be a solution that synergizes this particular point of contention. A suggestion would be to implement a server toggle to disallow armor skinning on a PvP server, but allow it on a PvE server. But how will this save them from having to mirror DLC armor stats anyway?