I do like the idea you have here. Or more rather, I like where it could go. It does seem a bit.. too streamlined, but like you said, it was meant to be more of a base idea rather than a full-fledged replacement system. If anything, I definitely like the idea of being able to pick which item you are attempting to gather rather than having it random (They could totally make the drop rates really low to compensate getting to pick, right right?).
I wish I had more to add, but I'm afraid I don't have anything really useful to suggest

Gath's 1 gil is worth more than my 1 gil.