Look at it this way: I've seen plenty of furry-identifying art-commissioners of all ages, ranges and severity not once express interest in furcons or fursuits. Opposite, I've seen several "mature adult" fursuiters who did not think of their suit as an OC, let alone a character, and they have never commissioned art of it because they simply wear it to a "suit-wearing" event.
I'd argue being a furry is to inject the furry angle into everything you do, ie. car furries, rave furries, what have you. Fursuiters rarely use the suit in any other capacity than parties and conventions. You're arguing that being a furry is paying thousands of dollars to try to some convention where really nothing is going on other than "It's a party and the people here are furries". There is no thing at the center of the fandom. Bronies had MLP media, trekkies got the tv show. Furries ain't got shit, least of all fursuits.
It still baffles me how deepweb KF detectives are so incapable of looking at the fandom and simply dissecting what it really is (because they often start and stop at "uhh they wear animal costumes? they wanna fuck animals!").