I simply think that those runes giving +5 weapon skill or 6% hit in any kind of magic type will simply make itemization more bland and less interactive.
Making weapon skills more available is great, but a simple rune is too much of a given and a missed opportunity to make interesting items that would impact how players choose how they itemize their character.
Its not a I cry because I bought Edgemaster or I regret making a human type of deal.
It’s more of a 
rant; I don’t mind any critique about that, so please do. If you can’t take it, please save yourself from my near-pathologic texte wall.
I enjoy vanilla itemization because it’s not a simple bigger number goes up. Misses and glancing blows are not good on their own in any game, but how players can avoid those issues with getting a certain type of stat or threshold help getting away from the bigger number goes up itemization design is good.
It might not be the case for everyone, and it’s not mandatory for enjoying the game, obviously, but what I expected early from Season of Discovery was a better understanding of those mechanics and more options than racials or Edgemaster, like in Era (there are more options, but they are the main ones). It’s a lack of options that’s the problem, not the system itself.
Making simple runes for each weapon type is not an improvement; it avoids the problem while making those rightfully good races and items meaningless.
I think making it more accessible from diverse sources would enrich the experience and maintain racial impact on decision-making for our beloved characters; it would become a convenience instead of a requirement.
My alternative is aimed at diversifying itemization and benefiting the overall experience for certain types of behavior.
-More items with +5 for x-type weapons BUT on certain slots that have great options for more basic stats (strength, agility, attack power, etc.) An example for P4 could be helms and belts for warriors with the Onslaught Girdle. It could not be as stat-heavy, but I assure you that some people on classic are happy to not compete for big items, and more of those items are great. Humility is a virtue for a reason, and social games like Mmorpg benefit from players having those kinds of options.
-More humble item with minimal stat values but with a +3 or +2 for the x-type weapon. A pair of those, and you’ve got the threshold for a hit and a glancing blow. It might be a hustle in the early phases, but the more there are tiers, the more there are combinations for each type, and players that horde any unwanted item can benefit from that kind of design. Did you get the belt and gloves from Gnomeregan and keep it just in case? (Because I didn’t.)
-+1/2/3 for each weapon from professions could be a good option; all the different recipes could be from different content, BOE or BOP, reputations, etc. Don’t let that option go; it’s literally a gold mine of carrots on a stick. I say professions to not doom the entire enchanter player base to have more obligations; why not have blacksmiths be capable of crafting their own BOP glove enchant for maces, or Skinning players have a bonus for daggers?
-Some exceptional weapons with their own stats on them, from the Obsidian Edged Blade to the Hungering Cold, is either good enough for a subpar weapon or the actual goat. It’s more of a plug-and-play situation; you are free to care about what is above that entry, and it’s great because it’s equally an option.
There might be more ideas, and you might have your own, so please share.
I praise the goal of the team, which is to make every specialization viable. I believe they are doing the same for race combinations and weapon choices with those ring runes, but I think it’s detrimental to what they could actually create instead, which could be more interactive for the player while staying in line with Vanilla’s itemization.
This post is mainly about weapon skill, but I think the same about the 6% hit for spells. It will simply devalue item giving hit, and people will get le big spellpower and le big %crit item instead, which would only lead the sod team to create an “upgrade” for the next tier, being just more bland dps increase of sorts. Powercreep for the non-initiated. Diversifying stats is great for this reason; an item can still be great by having a variety of great stats at decent values. Who would care about Neltharion’s Tear if hitcap is so easy to get now? The team would have benefited from not needing to rebalance all the future items. But I’m still optimistic. What if the Molten Core’s difficulties actually make us hit less? I wouldn’t mind, because I will have to adapt and revise my gear for that while not forgetting about fire resistance. The definition of interactability, which is fun.
Final note : I might be misinformed; maybe the developer actually mentions it elsewhere. I might be over-speculative, and I wish to be aware of my bias if there is any (beside my human character obviously).