I still think that one of the best systems is the One used in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Every time you go up a level, you get three Ability Points and a Skill Point. The Ability Points can be used in any of three Ability trees (Might, Sorcery and Finesse) at any time in the game. So right off the bat, you don't have to play as a 'pure' Warrior. Mage or Rogue if you don't want to. Also, you do not get classes, but Destinies - Tarot-like cards that become available as you advance and which, if selected, give you perks according to the Abilities you've selected. The first three are Brawler, Acolyte and Rogue, certainly, but if at your first level up you assign one point to each tree, it opens the fourth option of Seeker, a Jack-of-all-trades with special bonuses. As you advance up the levels and unlock further Destinies, your choices of how many points you put where opens other hybrid Destinies as well. None of these Destinies locks you into a specific playstyle unless you want it to, you choose the one that gives the best perks. Nor does the choice of Destiny block you form undertaking various Faction Quests - a Sorceror can join the mercenary Warsworn, a Rogue the mystic Scholia Arcana or a Warrior the thieving Travellers. Though clearly it is easier to complete them if you have the appropriate Abilities! But it also helps if you want to give your Warrior - a melee-based Destiny - a ranged weapon: you can invest a few points in the Finesse Archery Ability or the Sorcery-based Sceptre or Chakrams.
As to Skills, these are chosen from a common list of a dozen or so which not only contains adventuring essentials such as Lockpicking and Detect Hidden, but also crafting skills such as Alchemy and Blacksmithing and more generally-handy ones like Persuasion and Mercantile. You can specialise or spread your net widely, as you choose.
Finally, if you're fed up, want to tweak your character mid-game, or need a different skillset to complete a quest, and have enough gold. you can go to an NPC 'Fateweaver' character and have yourself reset so you can put your accumulated points into a different set of Abilities and Skills.
In terms of story, graphics and gameplay, KoA is no match for Dragon Age, but it's a lot of fun and that character creation and upgrade system is one of the most flexible I've ever seen!
It's also one of the very few that doesn't play favourites with different classes!
