Whether you play by yourself, with others, or in competition with other players is IRRELEVANT. The fact remains that buying an advantage over others is pay to win in any case. The issue isn’t the damage that you would cause players with such advantages, the issue is what the provider (in this case Funcom) would do to players.
There are hundreds of games that are singleplayer only with Pay to Win mechanics. Utilizing this predatory practice to cause problems for players while also providing a solution, should the players pay for it. This isn’t something that should be supported by our community