The original release was almost exactly like you described, and caused problems where there were very strictly limited supplies of absolutely everything. Remember that DivOS has no respawning enemies with the exception of enemies that spawn during a fight, which don't usually drop anything or grant exp.
It was a system that practically required savescumming. Want a particular spell? Gotta savescum the merchant till he has it. Want even half-decent loot? Savescum known good chests until they have something useful.