I agree, the system did not reflect the freedom to create your favorite character class very well and I didn't like the lack of early game specialization. That said we've already changed it and are testing it for a release. Now to balance this attribute points scale in cost, something like 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,5,6. Don't quote me there, but you can max out one attribute roughly in your mid 30's but at the expense of having zero perks.
Here are is my portion of the release notes on it:
Changed: Attributes are no longer gated by your level. You can specialize very early game now but attributes cost more for the higher ranks. The goal is to allow players to specialize into classes early game, and be awesome at a few things and ok or poor at other things. Or you can be a jack of all trades, the choice is yours. With the costs of the higher attributes being steeper, players will probably want to specialize in one or two attributes and get the best perks in those attributes and late game there will be less god tier characters who have every perk unlocked. We are looking for feedback such as are there any exploits or severe imbalances with this new system.