After reading several posts discussing attributes and their effects, I've figured that none of them talk about the main difference between PoE and old DnD based games:

• Equipment does not have an attribute requirement. In BG's for instance, Weapons and Armour had a base strenght requirement. Here is a link to BG's wiki about strenght.
• Talents do not have an attribute requirement. In NWN1 for instance, feats had attribute requirement. Here is an example.
• Skills do not have an attribute specific bonus. In NWN they were tightly related.

Attributes had a huge impact on builds in games like BG, NWN, etc. But, in PoE Attributes have an effect on basic traits: Health, Stamina, Damage, Interruption, etc. Also, they do have an implication on dialogs/story line. But, bottom line, they do not have a real impact on builds.

 

I am not saying this is good or bad; My point is, stop talking about attribute modification as if it would really make a difference.

 

 

 

 

Sorry but I take you thread hostile and turn it into a:

WHAT skills does this game need to allow diverse and interesting character development?

 

I would suggest to lower the base damage of weapons and give all (or only martial art) classes skills that let them buff the weapons damage. 

You could also easily differentiate different classes that use the same tools like for example give the fighter a skill (or a set of skills so its not so easy to get)

that makes him the best ranged dps. That would let you choose between the ranger that has many tools at range and the fighter which offers superior dps.

We already have several threads on this subject. Please discuss it there.