well if they lowered the perks per level, and added more perks that means they raised the level cap. idk just wait for it to come out and you will see what they did to it. soon as you leave the doctors office you level up. theres no way you can just enter the waste by just staying a level 1. kinda like in fallout 3 you level up when you leave the vault.

There are quests you can do while still in Goodsprings to get you ready to explore the wasteland.

Hehe just getting loopy as I wait for the game to come out...

Erm, you start the game in the doctors office, it takes 10 seconds or less after character creation to just leave his house.
You will start at lvl 1.
You won't level up as soon as you leave his office.
They haven't raised the level cap, it's still 30.