Quote Originally Posted by Yallaid View Post
probably "having access to the content considered to be the current end-game"

I think that's a workable definition. In which case, the OP describes a p2w option because it allows a player to "pay" to "reach the current end-game content".
I would agree. I think Yoshida needs to stop looking at current generation WoW's cash shop for inspiration. This sorta makes sense for a game that is over a decade old and has stacks of expansions. FFXIV is too new to do this.