Disagreed to both points. Talents helped us feel like we'd designed our characters, not just received templates from Blizzard. On top of that, many classes' builds changed greatly over the course of the expansion due to gear upgrades, breakpoints and even resistance types on mobs.
And Weapon skills weren't a big deal at all. I kinda found it immersive, really. If I pick up a Polearm for the first time, it's not exactly a stretch to imagine I'd need to practice with it before slaying dragons with it. They didn't take that long to level.