But you just made the argument for no stat gains - which is very different from scarce stat gains.
My perspective was always scarce gains: there are things like bloodrose potions, talents, and possibly other avenues towards boosting your stats, and in all my posts I always assumed at least those.
Given the stated goals of the system, scarce gains is exactly the way to go, as it provides the balance between a specialist and a hybrid they seek to achieve, but instead of a convoluted system where the points change their relative value based on player level(to assure that the stats left at base value do not become worthless), the relative value remains consistent throughout(gaining one point in a stat puts all related attributes at an appropriate level).
Why should a belt of Giant strength matter more than my character's decision to do something about his physical fitness?
Because the decision, as far as gameplay goes, is not for your character to hit the gym, but for a number to go up on a spreadsheet.
You change equipment throughout the game constantly, if you temporarily need more strength, it's better to do so by wearing the right belt, than it is to invest levels into it.
Especially in a situation where stats can be orders of magnitude apart:
If you have 10 strength and 30 dexterity, gaining 2 strength isn't quite as significant in terms of catching up as it would be if both stats are in a 1-10 range.
On top of that, those 2 points in strength, in the current system, will eventually stop providing any benefit: there will be no new gear they unlock, they will not contribute any bonuses to skills, etc.
Meanwhile a system that scales the benefits of a point with level, rather than the amount of points, is universally tuned such that each point has those benefits regardless of your level.
