Did you play the original game when it was in active development? Or have you played TiTS? It's how they do things. Especially since levels have associated abilities and perks and they're refining those over time.
When you say "original game" I assume you mean the first CoC. And yeah, I did play it when it was still being actively developed. Not right out of the gate, but I started playing when the game became well known around the net, and I never encountered any leveling or stat cap problems. If combat ever tied you down, you just go to the gym in Tel'Adre and spend a few minutes grinding your stats up. There were only ever a handful of enemies where you needed to grind actual levels for the perk points.
As for TiTs, I never have and never will play it. I'm sure other people like it but for me it's just a world setting problem. I like the fantasy RP. Not so hot for the modern space epic stuff.