Was SAO originally designed to be community-driven?
While MMORPGs do usually have shop NPCs, it is important to note that they usually don't sell the best gear. (Or even good gear)
The best gear is either from bosses, random drops, or, from crafting. It seems that in SAO, good gear was made via crafting, as we see when Kirito asks Liz to make him a sword, and they go hunting for materials.

So it seems like it was intended to be community driven, as you could raise skills, and craft, and as it is fairly obvious that not everybody wants to have a high blacksmith skill, as you could always buy it with money you get otherwise.

And you say Igneel, but I think you mean Agil.