[Twobit Whore]

That's shit you do in a pen and paper game. MMO Games haven't 'devolved' from that, they haven't even evolved to it in the first place.

But even if we had those in games, why couldn't they be done in a class based system? Maybe you can pick a secondary skill to focus on.. like climbing or swimming. Clearly any adventurer would have rudimentary skills at it but you could choose to focus on one to improve it. A rogue may be an excetpional climber while a mage, through the aid of spells, could be a great swimmer.

But in the end, how do you incorporate compelling and meaningful gameplay that warrants longterm focus on these abilities? It's basically just a variation of a locked door that you need someone to pick to advance.