You get "the elements to the product" by "simply being a part of it."
In the quote above you have chosen to separate playing the game and obtaining items from that game. But this is your predilection, and has no bearing on the nature of gaming.
Role-playing games have been around since the 1970s, computergames started shortly after. RPG and other games have always been about playing the game in order to make progress. The concept of playing the game to make progress is a 30+ year old concept. The concept of just paying money for progress is a new concept by comparison.
FFXI is a very unique game, it has charted hitherto unsailed waters, being the first seriously popular long running mainstream RPG, which retains a lot of the old RPG values. There are no maps for where FFXI has travelled, or is going to travel. That is because it is sailing alone on uncharted seas. Therefor speculation on its fate is just that - speculation. We can't look back on the history of games and compare FFXI to other games, because no other game has done what FFXI did, and continues to do.
I have already agreed that things like Tidal and Moogle cap etc. would be nice additions for new players or players who missed the original purchase. I have no problem with shops for fun gift items. I have a problem with shops selling progress, or currency, or items that people have poured years of effort into obtaining. You are skating around that issue a lot, you seem to want to be able to buy HQ gear or progress from a cash shop, but you are very obtuse and vague about this. I would say that this is contra to the FFXI adventurer spirit and roleplaying culture, which is about working towards goals with likeminded adventurers, not just clicking a BUY button in a cash shop.