@Ghostcrawler/Morello Comments on Artifacts (and Runes), as someone in high-level game design?

Hello! I had a lengthy summary written out, but I ballsed up and closed the tab, losing it before I could post. So, until I write more, you get the shorter version. :P

TotalBiscuit just put out a video, entitled "Artifacts - A case study in pointless progression and how it hurts everyone". Link here.

In it, he discusses the new Artifacts system in Heroes of the Storm. It is very similar to the Rune system in a lot of ways. It seems that many (not all, being different games, but many) of the issues he puts forth also ring true over here. The Rune system has always struck me as something that doesn't really offer anything meaningful to the game (as have Masteries, for the most part), and he does a pretty good job highlighting reasons for that.

If you get the chance to watch it (or if you already have, his influence being as big as it is), would you care to give your thoughts? I'd be very interested to hear what you think about Runes, Artifacts, or both. There's a fair bit of meat in the video to be had, covering quite a lot of issues with a system like this.

Edit: Clearly, I'm not awake yet. Found some horrible typos. Don't judge me if I missed some. Apparently, my brain hasn't finished rebooting yet. >.>