I definitely like the knowledge and skills approach you're describing here, @Prometheus.
My only concern is having a character that I eventually don't want to play anymore as it doesn't fit my playstyle based on choices I made while I didn't fully grasp the game. (ie when I first got on and created the character).
Why not choose to allow a character to migrate slowly their stats or attributes or skills towards what they're using? In your example of the occasional wizard with low intelligence, if he sets his attributes to migrate and keeps using his spells (intelligence based abilities), he could overtime increase in intelligence and decrease in, say, something else he had chosen to favor at first.
Thinking of something along the lines of what Life is Feudal is doing.
Otherwise, what's the rationale behind the design decision to lock in those choices made at character creation?
Checking in again
loll
