Darkshade

It's been ready to be moved to the hat slot for about 3 years, eyes would require adding default eyes to the mask. I'm not sure what the reaction to this would be.

What are your thoughts on Limited Vanity items without a night glow effect?

No, it isn't possible to replace player characters.

No I completely understand, but you're taking a shortcut by sharing 'mons between your team members each time; it's not unreasonable to pay a small fee to up the happiness each time. If you want to avoid doing that, make your own party members and you'll only have to pay up until the point that the monster is finished. Why is it an outdated mechanic? You're missing the point, I can make as many accounts as I'd like and use them to get the happiness bonus just as many times daily.

So don't do that, the alternative is making your own comps (which I'd presume you're not doing because it's more expensive). With mechanics such as an NPC that gives vast amounts of happiness on a daily basis, the removal of happiness between trades is a necessary evil that allows such a system to exist, as well as retains the value and encourages the consumption of said berries.

You're overlooking the various items/abilities/moves that increase (or have increased) critical hit rate and damage, which elevate the mechanic beyond just 'Unpleasant RNG'.

The absolute mess this would cause with double overlays makes this a no unfortunately.

No, it's because the point of the vanity is to actively participate in PvP to be able to obtain it. If you want it, and/or the prestige around owning it, then you must put the effort in to get it. It's not for PvP players to repeatedly farm over time and sell to others with an interest in it.

And special moves too? It would be easier to adjust the payout in that scenario.

Unfortunately with the way vanity items are constructed; if the Ninja Mask were to be moved to the eyes slot, you would cease to actually have eyes.

While it is certainly counter-able, we don't believe it's something that should be encouraged. It's an incredibly cheap strategy and not something we want to encourage as a way of learning to climb the ranks. Nor is it particularly fun/rewarding to lose against, especially as an inexperienced player. This is not the only reason that lower levels are discluded from participating (standard playing field etc.), but it has been a topic of discussion in the past.

Unlikely, one of the reasons they're disallowed in the first place is to prevent use of the F.E.A.R strategy, as you have outlined. I understand your frustration, but the game is intended to be designed for more than just battles, having to make that decision in the first place is what gives a lot of things merit and value.

I don't know, it was only released for a very short period of time for reasons I don't recall, although it wasn't intended to be time limited. (And I don't believe it was listed as such, either). Seasonal, perhaps? Maybe it will make a return.