Yes, that is exactly the issue. Adding uber Store gear for level 20 isn't the immediate end of the game - but it is a sign of worse to come and as such people will start leaving now, before the worst comes to effect. It's not even gonna wreck the in-game economy balance: it's gonna wreck the PR image Turbine still has, making LOTRO one of the "P2W games that sell gear and ergo inevitably suck" in eyes of every RPG player out there.