You raise some good points. I can't find the article but Maro actually did address why the ring tempting you doesn't have a drawback. Apparently it's because players wouldn't want to engage with the mechanic or find it as fun to use if it's a major drawback.

While I don't love the reason, since one path could have been to make cards that tempt you inherently stronger to compensate for having a downside, I guess it does make sense. Still a bit of a flavour fail though.