They were not at all part of the "core game and design style". The devs went on record many times saying that's not what they intended and they specifically put in ways to try and hinder power leveling (and eventually twinking), when they had the time.
You can absolutely have an open World system without those two things. If a Level 50 Druid runs over and casts a Level 50 buff spell on a Level 10 player, the game could simply make it so the buff acts as Level 10 buff. There would be nothing wrong with that AT ALL. It can even make sense in terms of RPG realism that the lower level player wouldn't be able to "handle" the higher level buff to begin with. Also, buffs shouldn't be long-term, fire-and-forget anyway. That's poor combat design.
The same thing goes for equipment - nothing wrong with having level restrictions on them. It again also makes sense that a character can't handle certain equipment until they are experienced enough (this makes even MORE sense than a character not being able to "handle" a higher level magical buff). Are medical students able to perform open heart surgeries after just 2 years of med school? No, they aren't.
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