Woot!!! Calling me a chump.
No, learning skills were pointless and unnecessary. While technically training them did give you an edge, it meant you were effectively flying ■■■■ for months waiting to get to 5s. And everyone grinded them to 5 early on (except charisma) because of how needed they are.
There’s a big difference between something you needed to grind to 5 to just have an average character AND remapping where you can optimize and change it yearly.
If you get rid of remapping, everyone is the same. It doesn’t reward people who actually plan ahead and look long term… and Eve is about long term.
Learning skills: grind to 5 and forget about them.
Remapping: plan your skills for a year, map. During that year, consider what you want for the next year. Then figure out your map, and remap at the proper time. Rinse, repeat.
One is dynamic, the other is not. One rewards players who plan ahead, the other really hindered player progression… which is insanely stupid for new player retention.
I tried Eve during the era of learning skills… and left as soon as I found out my first few months of subscription were going towards nothing.