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Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ
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Whew, that's a rather extreme response, I think. Concern about too powerful attributes when it comes to buying skills, and solutions like half-stat defaults have enjoyed some popularity (and then there's related things like T-Bone's ESCARGO).
But totally divorcing attributes from skills? I do see the appeal, and as you point out, it's not even just for gamism and ease of use, there's some simulationist aspect about it, too, with "intelligence" and "talent" being rather vague and often interchangeable aspects (I still think that the non-GURPS concept of IQ is a serious atrocity, at least almost nobody takes Briggs-Meyers stuff or D&D alignments seriously).
I'm just wondering where this leaves us with DX and especially IQ. What's the remaining role for those attributes? Some popular house rules already took us half way to HERO 6Es "No derived stats", i.e. when Per and Will are removed from IQ. Now if skills are, too, we might as well ditch it. DX serves as some kind of quasi-default for purely physical actions, but that can be solved by just moving that to a proper skill.
On the other hand, one could solve a few of your points easily with some technical assistance: If we agree that IQ and DX are more about adaptability than just being a math wiz or gymnast, then starting with skills for defining your character is a good point. But then the computer comes in and "min/maxes" your character, i.e. moves points to IQ/DX if that results in a cheaper build. That way building a character is as fast, using RAW.
Just spitballing here. I do find the idea quite intriguing. Defaulting from attributes, talents, incompetences, it all goes away and why someone is competent at a certain group of abilities is more a narrative concept (or your own personal view of developmental physiology and psychology, nature vs. nurture etc.).