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I prefer more general descriptions like that because, functionally, there is NOT a huge difference between an Attribute of 3 and one of 6 as far as dice pools go. So descriptions such as "Strength 1 is a small child, Strength 6 is a powerlifter" are too jarring - they don't fit the reality of how the game mechanics actually work. Honestly, I don't like how skills are described, either. For comparing how good someone is, overall dice pools are a much better indicator than base skill or Attribute ratings.
More rambling:
For metatypes, I wouldn't simply add the bonuses to the "average" for them. Just as you find more guys than girls who are less fit, because they are naturally stronger, you will probably have lots of orks and trolls who don't get past that 3 or 5 in Strength, because they don't have anything pushing them to improve.
The former thing I think is just a drawback to a grainy system.
But counting die pools in there...yes, very important. For example, Guy 1 might have 6 Strength(Olympic material), but 3 body-nothing spectacular, not bad. Guy 2 might have a 5 strength, but a 5 Body as well(no stopping this guy, he hasn't gotten sick in years, he's got mad endurance.) Someone can dead-lift 15kg per point without a test. Guy 1 can pop 90kg off the ground without trying-but guy 2 does 75. He has actually has to make an effort to hit 90.
But a Lifting test is Body+Strength. It increases the weight per hit. So maximum, guy 1 can add 15x9 dice, or 135kg to his lift. Guy 2, with 10 dice, can add 150 kg to his lift, from being in overall better condition. Now...they're equal all of the sudden, even though the first guy is technically stronger. Drop Guy 1's boyd to 2(not sickly, but perhaps he gets winded easily), and suddenly, he can only lift a max of 15kg LESS than the guy who isn't as strong as he is.
You can look at plenty of other die pools, too-the Charisma 6 socialite might only have a 1 in Etiquette. Okay, so they basically get around by their natural charm. The second person, say, a very strict Etiquette teacher who isn't known for being particularly well-liked but not hated, corrects everyone for the slightest infraction, or whatnot, has a 3 Charisma. They're average, it would be higher if they weren't so damn annoying...but they rock a 6 Etiquette. They just *know*. And their die pool is higher.
Single attributes and skills can be used as a rule of thumb to describe how good at someone is at something, yes...but the real test comes from the whole pool. There can be someone with 5's in every attribute-they are just naturally awesome-but have very few skills, and they are at low levels-they just don't have a lot of training or experience. Their skills at 1-2 give them die pools of 6-7. Someone else might just have a 3 down the line, but their huge skill ratings of 5-6 actually have them outperform the person above them, but because they know what their doing. At the same note, Person 1 with the Attribute of 2 and the skill of 5, is even to the person with an attribute of 5 and a skill of 2 for varied reasons, but they are both outperformed by the person with the 4 attribute and the 4 skill. The third person isn't as naturally gifted as the second, nor are they are learned as the first, but they still can outperform either of them by having a bigger die pool.
RE: the Metas having lower attribute averages-that's actually an interesting way of thinking about it. I know if I had a natural body of 4, I wouldn't be doing a damn thing.