Been gone on vacation so I missed artifact-ageddon, but this is pretty much how I feel as well.
New form of talent gating = short sighted.
Artifact system = nope nope nope. If they want to drain gold, find another way that doesn't make you an instant gimp if you miss launch, for example, or take a vacation or what have you.
That said, the outcry against this artifact system (and to a lesser extent, the talent changes) has been the most unanimous uproar against a feature I have ever seen in a game that wasn't an MMO. I will be shocked if this doesn't get scrapped or severely changed to be more palatable for all levels of play before we get to beta, let alone launch.
People throwing up their hands and saying "LOL shit game, kthxbye will never play again" who haven't even played it are ridiculous. People doing the same thing in an alpha where they have done a pretty good job listening to feedback aren't much better.
The new systems do sap the jump in and play casual aspect they appeared to be going for right out of the game. They are a pretty smart company who've made some great games and expansions. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they'll see reason.
EDIT: Would also like to add it's quite funny that on other forums/reddit/GAF I saw so many people claiming it was too simple, too casual...and now the claim is (rightly) this will kill it for casuals by the same people who wanted it to have more complexity. Point being, bad decision or not, people have been waiting to jump on this game's jugular from the first announcement.
