What do you consider the difference between a skill and a 'perk'/'feat' to be?

[rusty_shackleford]

[Tangerine]

viewtopic.php?p=295725-are-weapon-skill ... rk#p295725

[Xenich]

Skill is something that can be developed through some active means of pursuance.

A perk/feat is the result of an "experience" that produces a negative or positive effect on the character.

Learning to work with power tools is a skill that is improved with time.

An accident using power tools can create a condition (perk/feat) that has a negative/positive effect when using them.

[Stack of Turtles]

You buy a perk and learn a skill.

[DemoGraph]

Perk/feat is a boolean.
Skill is integer (has continuity of improvement).

[J1M]

Perk/feat is a boolean.
Skill is integer (has continuity of improvement).

Came to write this but was going to say boolean/float.

[Stack of Turtles]

Perk/feat is a boolean.
Skill is integer (has continuity of improvement).

Came to write this but was going to say boolean/float.

A float is just an integer crossdressing.

[J1M]

Perk/feat is a boolean.
Skill is integer (has continuity of improvement).

Came to write this but was going to say boolean/float.

A float is just an integer crossdressing.

Forgetful integer.

[Norfleet]

I don't consider there to be a real difference. Skills, feats, and attributes are all just buildspace decisions in the modern game. Attributes used to be mostly-immutable intrinsic attributes you didn't really control, but with the advent of point-buy dominating systems, they've just become another form of buildspace cost.

While others above havee argued that a distinction is "skills are a continuum, feats/perks are a binary", I say these are ultimately the same, since it all resolves down to "Can I Do It?". Either you CAN (possibly with savescumming), or you CANNOT. You fail it! Your skill is not enough!

[DemoGraph]

In a more nuanced view, I don't remember seeing long term projects / actions based on feats. Or opposed feat rolls.

[Xenich]

I don't consider there to be a real difference. Skills, feats, and attributes are all just buildspace decisions in the modern game. Attributes used to be mostly-immutable intrinsic attributes you didn't really control, but with the advent of point-buy dominating systems, they've just become another form of buildspace cost.

While others above havee argued that a distinction is "skills are a continuum, feats/perks are a binary", I say these are ultimately the same, since it all resolves down to "Can I Do It?". Either you CAN (possibly with savescumming), or you CANNOT. You fail it! Your skill is not enough!

Leave it to Norfleet to take a narrowed discussion on a topic, then up it a notch (BAM!) to why he thinks it is all BS anyway.

[Norfleet]

Skill is something that can be developed through some active means of pursuance.

Yeah, but in the game, it's unlocked by spending points you gained at levelling up.

A perk/feat is the result of an "experience" that produces a negative or positive effect on the character.

Represented as a thing you unlocked by...spending points you gained at level-up.

Learning to work with power tools is a skill that is improved with time.

By spending points on it at level up, you mean. The alternative is that it's something you level up by power-drilling every tree you find. But for obvious reasons, grind-by-doing is not a terribly common or popular setup to use in modern games.

An accident using power tools can create a condition (perk/feat) that has a negative/positive effect when using them.

I think that's mostly just injuring yourself. It tends not persist until you cause permanent injury. Which is not terribly common in games, especially single player ones, since the ability to permanently cripple your character by random chance isn't a popular design option.

Leave it to Norfleet to take a narrowed discussion on a topic, then up it a notch (BAM!) to why he thinks it is all BS anyway.

I mean, it basically is. They're pretty much all just "things you buy with level-up points", only now we have different flavors of level-up points!

[Stack of Turtles]

Skill is something that can be developed through some active means of pursuance.

Yeah, but in the game, it's unlocked by spending points you gained at levelling up.

If you spend points on it then it's a perk, not a skill.

[Norfleet]

If you spend points on it then it's a perk, not a skill.

"Skill Points" predates the existence of "perks" and "perk points". Perks are just a parallel skill system that emerged because skill points had become stale and overused.