i answered that more broadly already
No you didn't. You said "in RTS games graphics aren't extremely important as long as you can tell what everything is." Well I've given you a choice now. Two games, same cost, same file size, same mechanics, same play style, same everything, but one has nice graphics, which do you pick.
in my experience people get bored after building units for extended periods of time, but maybe the group i played with had a small attention span or something.
They have to have a 5 second attention span to not be capable of building a dup plate, it really is not that hard.
I just wanted to try and present my case a little better.
Here is the boat of someone who just recently started playing Mini Empires:

Here is his boat after I showed him a few tricks and explained things to him realistically about size and being able to actually walk onboard a ship.

Here is a ship he helped me design after I gave him a little more input and asked him if he'd like to maybe see what it's like to make a larger, more realistic ship

The first ship is boring and flat, but allows for quick RP
The third ship has depth, some form of scale, a variety of details, better color, and overall actually catches the eye, but takes longer to make in terms of building it, but once it's done you can just replicate it and then you have a fleet (provided your fair about it)
Making a canoe IRL takes months
Why should it take you 10 seconds to make a capital ship?
Put in a little effort, if that's not asking too much.
That isn't directed at anyone. That's a general statement.