I agree that more gold items would be nice, especially armor, outfits, and costumes, so people can have an option to dress up their character earlier in the game. You could be stockpiling and hording gold, but it won't do you any good if the item you want is only available through cash.
Perhaps they could consider implementing some sort of gold transfer/exchange rate system, where gold can be transferred into money, at a specific percentage, and at a loss to keep things balanced; for example, 1000 gold = 2 cash. This would enable non-paying users to still afford the items they are normally locked out of, and will make gold hording less likely or desirable; since now the gold isn't just sitting there for the next strong weapon; it becomes a liquid asset, but further challenges the player to think and plan ahead financially, since your gold is worth much less on transfer.
Of course, I don't expect something like this to happen, since it hurts the players who actually whip out plastic to pay for this game, and they will feel begrudged for paying for something which now everyone can get for free, with a little effort.