The default character creation method in the World of Darkness always leaves me feeling like I've made a gimpy character, unless I actively game the system, and by game the system I mean spike everything I can with creation points, then buy cheap things with XP (where it is far less expensive). I think this works ok if everyone's familiar enough with the system to exploit it in this way, but I don't anticipate that with my group. As such, I'm considering some options.

Option 1: All XP

Since pricing is an issue, it might be interesting to just start everyone off with a pile of XP and have them build with the same rules they'll use to advance.
Pros: More balanced, and allows finer control over character level.
Cons: More complicated, and I need to figure out the XP budget.

Option 2: Package buys

The point values for skills are where things break down. It's hard to get a character who feels competent without sacrificing things. This is done to prevent spiking, but I wonder if it would be easier to just replace the points with structured dots. Suppose for example that your primary pick gave you a ●●●●, a ●●●, two ●●'s and three ●'s?
Pros: Simple, and rounded.
Cons: Overly structured?