An answer to Mike's Standard Rant #4, stat/skill systems

[Vaxalon]

What we're looking for is a system that produces characters that are:

1. limited in overall effectiveness by some method.
2. composed of choices that are motivated by player desires, not by mathematical glitches or artificial limitations.
3. defined by a two tier system of statistical definition.

Impossible.  To restate the goals:

1:  Characters are limited.
2:  Characters can be what the player wants, in some form.

At its core, this is a P&-P problem.

[TonyLB]

Are you sure?

Because even in your reformulation, I don't see P and NOT-P.  Your statement #2 is not "Characters are not limited".

Nor do I think that you can derive "Characters are not limited" from your statement #2.

[Mike Holmes]

I carefully stated #2 to avoid just that. Even if there are only two choices, as long as they're equally "good" then the mechanisms in question count for these purposes. It's not that the player isn't limited somehow in his choices, that's irrellevant for these purposes. The only question is whether or not the math is causing the player to skew to one or another of the options.

Mike