What if instead of a normal cash-shop, you have to "unlock" certain options?

[ItMe]

Okay, that is DEFINITELY not true. In MMO's, there are TONS of items with "status".

I'm not discussing MMOs in general, only FF14.

The "Legacy" items are a huge status symbol -- well, when you can actually see or notice them (the Legacy Chocobo is admittedly a little weak, I have to look at its beak to even notice). But the new Landerwaffe mount? Sure, it helps that the mount is ALSO super sick, but that I would consider to be a status symbol. Or the weapon glams you get from the Ultimate-mode raids.

I said FF14 has "little to no status symbols," not literally none. If there are a few items you think signal status power to you.

At risk of splitting hairs over every example, personally, I don't think any of the examples you listed confer any kind of status.

I don't see "I played in 1.0" as a signal of player achievement or excellence.

I have the Landerwaffe mount. I don't see it as a status symbol. The mount is more or less locked behind multiple grind walls.

And as for the ultimate clears, they may have been a cool status symbol at one time, but considering how rampant Ultimate clear selling has gotten, on top of the fact that better food, better potions, and better gear have done MUCH to dull the difficulty of those raids.
It's super hard for me to even try to care about a rando's title/weapon.

If you do that's fine. But it also doesn't refute the point that for status symbols FF14 has little to none.

Even if my idea sucks -- and it's pretty clear nobody here likes it (which is totally cool) -- I think MMO's DO and SHOULD have "status" rewards.

Should it?
Possibly.
But that's not what I was addressing, and that argument is pretty tangential to the topic.