The game as it stands, has large amounts of blizzard polish behind it.
Its fun in its own ways, and would have made a great single player game which could have been played offline or on a LAN.
Without the AH - and hence higher drop rates to balance - the game would have been fine.
You would have had the game balance and fluidity, plus the incessant "ooh shiny!" of D2.
All of the constraints imposed in the parent article trace back to the Auction House and the Real Money Auction House. Each of them is an economic constraint to ensure the RMAH is actually usable.
Edit: Well its bound to happen too - a single agency controls the bank, the economy and the laws/game play.
