But Inklings like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear! Who would give that up for pants?
Seriously though, why isn't there a pants option, if not a shop?
Yes to voice chat; I get the reason for not including it, but mute buttons exist so...
Yeah, skippable messages would be nice. Maybe have some of the other characters do newscasts too (Cap'n Cuttlefish needs something to do now that I've beaten Octo Valley, Annie & Moe could do something like the routine Callie & Marie do, maybe DJ Octavio if they ever add playable Octolings (or the Octoling shooter, since it's a unique model we can't currently use), maybe Judd too somehow), just to have something different.
Not sure what freshness is, but sure, more of it sounds good.