You do realize this is actually a real debate in some countries and that there's nothing stupid about it?
Making it legal & under control instead of letting the blackmarket take care of it is certainly not a bad idea (I'm not saying it's without flaws either).
And I would argue that it worked quite well for Diablo 3, the game sold millions of copies and probably still keeps more players than AoC and it's not even a MMO. What made many quit is rather the lack of content (not much to do besides hunting items, and there's not much variety in item looks either etc...)
Honestly I would be happy if they did that on AoC since so many buy off those illegal sites that's it's really quite sad for FC. I don't spend money on the shop so I wouldn't be one of those who buy those items anyway but I would feel better for FC (even if we don't know what they would really use the money for).
And I'm sorry but the amount of "in-game work" (or gold) required for t3 crafted items is certainly ridiculous, especially considering how easy t4 is (and t4 weapons are somewhat similar in power or even a bit better) and how stupidly good they are for pvp. They could also reduce the gear gap in pvp and that would discourage a lot of buyers
(I can't really imagine too many pvers buying those with real money, but pvpers who don't raid are certainly likely candidates and I know a few)