http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/1...utliers-extract

seems maybe the stats part of the equation could be overrated...

not really, no. that line of reasoning fails to take into account the fact that attributes (at least in shadowrun) are not inherent qualities; they can be trained and improved and neglected just like a skill.

anybody can learn to play the banjo. but somebody who is very good at guitar can learn a banjo much more quickly than someone who has never played another fretted stringed instrument, because the person who can already play guitar has a highly developed manual dexterity (i.e. "stats").

also, the article seems to be biased towards people's "success" at a specific thing in very superficial terms, that is to say, some sort of spurious hierarchical system based on their famousness. the most well-known people in certain fields are not necessarily the best.

Stats in all games are meant to represent something both realistic and metaphysical. The realistic elements it the simulation of real-life mechanics (well X is good at shooting, shooting requires hand-eye coordination, and accuracy, let's say that's defined as part of 'agility' and than a firearm skill).

But with the same example given the time constraints coming into play and the complicated variables of the game, and the necesarry mechanics to maintain balance in the game. You want to make agility not overly applicable to all skills (which SR4 kind of fails at IMO) whether that's realistic or not. You want to make extra attributes to make some balance given the math of the system (hence the seperation of reaction and agility I'd reckon). Furthermore umping up some attributes just doesn't really make sense, like body. So you do a bunch of runs and you suddenly are physically larger and more powerful? That seems counter-intuitive, how does one enhance their bone structure, musculature, etc etc (barring augmentations obviously). Shadowrun like all RPGs at the end of the day are a game, and a good game balances these competing elements to make more characters viable as player choices, even if it operates at reality's expense.

I've never equated Body to 'size', at least in Shadowrun. In my opinion, it is more a combination of toughness and resilience. A small person can have a high Body Attribute just as easily as a large person. And conversely, just because someone has a large frame does not necessarily mean they have a high Body Attribute.