Except that the point of the max_skills = 2 * Ability_Level + 1 requirement was to fix the too many skills issue.
The problem currently is that the vendor selection is really random - sometimes you find ones that need level 19, but they may not be carrying ones which need level 3 or 4. That's not helpful.
Yes, I know that the limiting is now supposed to be done by means of ability levels. I have not got too far into this beta build yet, so my opinion about vendors and their stock is mainly based on previous versions. Well, I have to play a bit more with this system now...