Stat checks... this means:
1. Save before each conversation
2. See if there is a need to persuade someone
3. If you fail - reload, teleport to ship, respec
4. Pass stat check
Hm... I mean, it surely adds to the time it takes for a playthrough, but I don't think that stat checks actually add something.
Bartering? In a party of four you usually have a level 8 barterer before level 14.
The only one which makes SOME sense to me is thievery.
I'd suggest something else - wits should give a bonus to persuasion and bartering (which are actually the same thing if you ask me), finesse to thievery and sneaking.
However - the worst thing about this system, as it is now, is the fact that building the initial party for Fort Joy and the Hollow Marshes is really a tradeoff between "this is how I want to play" and "this is what makes actual sense when it comes to our party economy" (means: thievery 3 on one character as early as possible is more or less a must have to get all the skillbooks and some hardware for a proper 4 toon party - sad, but true).
For me this means that, since I have all the achievements for act 1 anyway, I play with the Fort Joy respec mirror mod, so I can do "crazy" things like two summoners (without having two Pet Pal toons) or a wizard AND an enchanter, without wasting civil ability points like crazy into two toons with loremaster (which is the most pointless of them anyway).
Even moreso, since high Persuasion on one character (preferably a lizard with Mystic + Scholar and Pet Pal) is a must anyway, it more or less serves no other function than to suck up a whole lot of civil ability points.
All in all - I don't like the civil ability point system either. If it goes for good, all the better.
Dialog should be about roleplaying choices, btw... not "lets google which dialog options get us the most XP so we will be at an appropriate level when we go and whack that Doctor".
Which, in turn, means for me that only combat and "any" quest conclusion (which is at least meaningful in some way) should give XP.
Think about Slane... I would NEVER want to roleplay a character who slays that cool guy, but this is one thing that keeps me from maxing out my Act 1 XP even more (which would be an advantage later).
