Why start with level 50 skills?

[levism84]

Not that I am complaining, mind you, but I was just curious as to why the protagonists start with level 50 in all the skills? I have a couple ideas why it is like this in Alpha but wanted to hear what other people think, too.

First reason could be in future versions, you will begin in a more forgiving season (say, spring) and have a much lower starting skill which you will have to work up before the really harsh months arrive. Although, I can't imagine it would work very well to have a rank of 1 in a skill and only have a base 1% chance of success, especially since you skill only improves when you succeed.

Second reason could be in future versions, you will be able to play as many different protagonists, each with their own strengths and weaknesses starting out. Perhaps Alpha's protagonists represent the "average" protagonist who is balanced in all skills to begin with. It would be interesting to start out with someone who was, say, a mechanic who had higher ranks in Repair but fewer ranks in Firestarting (not sure what skill that is, sorry). As more skills are added to the game, you could have a robust cast of protagonists that could represent various occupational backgrounds. It would be interesting to see who would fair best in an apocalypse such as this.

Third reason could be it is easier to program a skill level of 50 to equal a base chance of success of 50%, and the programmers decided to roll with it.

I was just curious.

[robdoar]

Just speculating, but I'd imagine youre right along the lines that even though Will is not an outdoorsman, he has some ability.