The reason that some ability upgrades are locked on first use is to make things easier for new players. Once you hit a certain level (not sure which one off the top of my head) you automatically unlock access to every Hero's unique talents. The first two that you have access to are also not guaranteed to be bad or 'noob picks.' Some are actually better than the ones you unlock with practice.
I do agree that most of the Heroes cost too much, but you don't just get 30 gold for winning games. Every day you get a random 'quest' like "Play 3 games as a warrior." "Play 2 games as a Starcraft hero." "Play 8 games in any mode." You can 'store' up to three at a time and if you don't do one, it'll carry over to the next day. Those get you anywhere from 200 to 800 gold on completion. Also, leveling up in general gives you gold and leveling up as each hero also gives you some too. For example, I hit level 20 a while ago and got 2,000 gold just for something that would happen no matter what.
Like League, newer heroes do tend to cost more, highest-tier being 10,000, but others are as low as 4,000. While that may seem like a lot, earning gold is a lot easier than earning IP in League, in my opinion. Also, you don't need to waste gold on things like Runes. You can buy skins with gold, but those are not needed as much as Runes are here. Skins are also given freely once you hit a certain mastery level with a champion. They're like Chromas, but you get them at different levels. For example, Anub'arak is my favorite hero. On hitting level 10 I unlocked his 'Master' skin. Color-wise, it's the same as his base, but it has a lot more details. The armor is more intricate and has what look like gems encrusted in it, his claws are longer, and the overall design looks more ornate. Rather than using the base chroma versions, I did use gold to unlock the Master skin, but I do not regret it. In a few days I can get back what I spent.
That said, the forums for another game may not be the best place to complain about HotS.
