The cash shop alone is gross and exploitative when you consider that they were very willing to sell these event items in game for gil. And minions like the wind up dalamud and bahamut were bonuses for the purchase of physical items, items I can enjoy very much outside of the game.

I'm not against a cash shop, but keep it to services as they've done in the past. Fantasias, server transfers, or perhaps even the highly vaunted name change. To enact predatory practices after the one year anniversary, where you're celebrating how the player base has stood behind you after such a failure as 1.0... It doesn't feel like player interests are in mind with this at all.