I'll pay anything for this Chocobo Barding

[Bourne_Endeavor]

You explained why it's good for SE, but not really why it's good for me or any other customer.
I know they can run the game perfectly well without the cash shop, they did it before.

We're not here for Squares benefit, they're here for ours.

Unfortunately, that is just how business works. Game costs have risen exponentially over the years. Companies aren't just going to eat those losses. Thus, it falls back to the consumer. If they didn't introduce DLC or cash shops, the price of games would go from $60 to $100+ (Capcom even hinted they've wanted to do that for years but fear the backlash). The way I see it, at least we have a choice to opt out of paying additional costs while those who do want vanity items can spend their money as they please. Could they run the game without a cash shop? Sure, but they'd be stupid to do so when people will pay for vanity. People need to accept DLC and cash shops aren't going away. Every single publisher does it nowadays and no amount of complaining will change that. If people want to spend their money on stuff like Sleipnir, leave them be. Granted, I wouldn't touch what the OP wants for that price.

The one positive though, is the more profit FFXIV reels in, the more incentive Square has to funnel money back into it. Stormblood likely wouldn't have triple the budget if no one bought cash shop items. So if you haven't. You get to reap those benefits without having paid any extra for them.