Not that im trying to defend WoW here, but your 3 flaws are kinda flawed as well
1. You definatly CAN trade items, and there is even a public auction house to sell them. As long as you didnt equip it (unless its a white item, but then nobody would buy it) Dispite of what you claim, economy in the realms are good. Only items you gain from quests and the items wich are labeled "bind on pickup" are not sellable. Also items wich you use to create other items are "hot" and sell for lots on the Auction house.
2. There Are ALOT of different effects. There are <insert element here> bolts on strike, whirlwind attack on strike, and lots more. Cool glows are an item as well, but those are pretty expensive to buy since players themselfs need to enchant the glows (actually the glows do have stats, but everyone just buys it because it'll glow like friggin lightsaber).
Also set items are present in the game. You got the devias set, the lightforge set etc. etc. I particulary like the one of the warlock sets, it gives you a hood wich darkens your face and gives you red glowing eyes
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3. you get skillpoints AFTER level 10, then you'll get 1 point to invest in 3 different skill trees, like in diablo 2. And there is no "1 playing style" It's just a matter of what you find to work the best. for example, on a mage i like to use arcane type spells with frost type bolts to slow the enemy, but my friend is fire all the way since it does huge amount of damage.
It is true however, that all skills are buyable, except for a few wich are located in the skill trees. But the skill trees do make a huge impact on the effect of these skills.
