/play -as is not executing command to the status window
I just tested this by running the command "//write -c test.txt test | play -as echo test.txt" in a query window and it displayed the text in the status window. Can you provide a step by step method that reproduces your issue?
The behaviours you are seeing, like the -t switch using 0ms, were requested by scripters at the time. The issue you describe with using "status window" enclosed in quotes was explained in my previous post.
That said, it is such an old, established command that, regardless of its quirks, it is unlikely that changes can be made to it without breaking backward compatibility.
