I would agree it's bearable, it just doesn't make for fun gameplay.
The availability of pre-crowning guarantees a random artifact to anyone with very little risk, you just need a little patience. I think it would be better gameplay if that artifact was quested for. R2 is another good choice, and produces some risk-factor for people who want to grab that artifact early. :)
In addition, you can make it so that random artifact can't be one of the top-tier artifacts, such as Preserver, Bracers of War, or Executor... but it also can't be one of the more terrible artifacts, like the Black Tome, Scorched Spear, Black Thumb, Cat's Claw, etc.