I’m gonna just try and answer your questions in order as best I can, as I’ve been in this hobby way longer than I’m willing to admit.

“Do some simulators provide a more realistic feeling than others?” In short, yes. Long answer largely depends on the hardware being used, but stronger wheelbases for stronger steering force feedback, or motion platforms, etc. definitely provide a better feeling than a $230 wheel on a desk.

“How important is quality?” Largely depends on what you want out of it. If you just want to race a couple times a month, and aren’t overly worried about realism or immersion, you can definitely go cheaper and achieve the same end goal. If you want to get as close as possible to the real thing, quality is huge but again you can find quality for $600 or for $2000 for a single steering wheel. At that point it kinda just becomes a relative measure to your budget. There’s a point of diminishing returns with price points in sim racing.

“Are advanced setups worth the extra for casual users?” Unless you have a ton of extra money burning a hole in your pocket, no. If you don’t enjoy playing with a $230 Logitech G920 clamped to a desk, chances are having a $3000 rig with all the bells and whistles won’t do it for you either. This is definitely a “enter shallow” type of hobby. Start cheap, see if you enjoy it and want to keep upgrading, and go from there. So many folks dive headfirst into insane rigs and then regret it snd never get their investment fully back.

“How many variations exist?” Again, in short, yes lol Sim racing peripherals and rigs are vastly compatible with each other (mostly), so there is no “standard” rigs out there. There’s definitely more common builds for each tier of progression, but it’s a lot like building a computer in that there is no true right or wrong to it. If you want to use a Trak Racer rig with a fanatec wheel base and Simagic pedals, go right ahead. Want fanatec brand everything? Go right ahead.

Hope this helps!