OpsKT
Explorer
Two things concern me:
1) With the new emphasis on stat importance, rolling is a horrible idea. To always be second best to the guy that rolled better than you did for the life of your PC? No thanks. Point buy absolutely has to be the default for this.
2) Feats. It sounds like feats will be incredibly important to customize your PC beyond your choice of class and theme. So how fast do you get one? Considering it sounds like bonuses won't advance much, I'd like to see a feat EVERY level. And you should start with more than one or two.
On 1 -- Indeed! Castles & Crusades uses a straight 3d6, roll six abilities, put them in the order you want method, and that makes characters on average THAT DIE. Don't get me wrong, I love the old school feel, but if I want a long term game, we either need to start at level 2 or 3, or use the 4d6 drop lowest from regular v3.5.
What I do like about that method however is that you don't really need a huge list of skills. What would it fall under? Is it a primary ability for your class? Roll vs 12 or vs 18. DONE. It is easy and quick to get back into the narrative.
On 2 -- If I had to choose between Feats and Skills to be 'not in' by default, I'd rather it have been Feats. The abuse (or failure to get the right ones) of Feats has been the direct cause of most every character that annoys the piss out of me.
Honestly, I'd rather see BOTH Feats and Skills as optional modules, and them to put in class Talents a la d20 Modern/Saga Star Wars. I think that is a much better way to customize your class to feel the way you want.