Quote Originally Posted by Cynfael View Post
The subscription fee doesn't automatically entitle all players to use all FFXIV-related services and features free of additional charge. If they want to add purely cosmetic extra features to the game for purchase, what's wrong with that? If you like the items in the shop, further support the game with your small purchase and enjoy your item. If you don't like them or don't want to pay for them, play as usual and ignore the shop.
You can't seriously be defending something like this. We already pay them to support the game. We buy the game. We pay for our subscriptions. We pay for character services. We pay for expansion. That should be more than enough. They do not need to exploit us by withholding items to sell in the cash shop. It seems so disrespectful to fans who have been supporting them for so long.

Also, as far as I'm concerned, the vanity aspect is the real "winning", not the numbers on an item or how fast I level. So yes, a cosmetic cash shop is still pay to win in my opinion, because having fun is how I win, and cosmetics are fun to play with.