These are cotton, which I believe was chosen to deal with the feel issue. I wish they were pre-shrunk, but it is what it is.
What colors of shirt do you wear? I've seen you in blue and grey shirts, and they looked OK. I'm no color expert. I can see why you might want to avoid white and light grey. Vivid colors probably look best. I'm told I look good in yellow, which is a color...I prefer not to wear. I hadn't thought about it until now, but I wear a lot of black, which is not a good color for me.
Long or short sleeve shouldn't matter, in terms of matching others, IMO.
I'm not sure what a second shirt in a different color would accomplish. I wear the shirts I like, and suspect others do the same. There are shirts I've never worn, and hope I never wear. If the goal is to have everyone wearing the same color shirts, but the chosen color is not to the liking of all, we'll have the same problem we have now.
I've been to events where shirts were provided. I stuck the whole packet in my car and forgot about it. The shirts were apparenly meant to be worn that day, and aren't really suitable, now that that day has passed. At the events, there were a handful of people wearing those shirts, but the planners had different shirts. Everyone else was wearing different shirts.