[Grizzly]

One of the things that hits Trolls is teh Karmacost for Experience. For instance, trying to go from a Strength 9 to a Strength 10 isn't a *huge* thing, but it sets you back 50 Karma. That's a real kick in the pants! And while you'd be better off spending that on several other things, if your concept is to buff up, then you gotta go for the big cost that brings little real gain.

That's a hard bridge to cross.

True, but can't the same be said of other builds when they start getting to the 'top end' of things...for example, a mage that has already initiated 4 times - is it really worth spending the karma to raise his magic from 9 to 10 for anything other than bragging rights? The best drain-soak build from the Core book has 14 dice to soak at creation (Elf Shaman with Exceptional Attribute), presuming he's raised both drain attributes to max after creation and taken Centering, he's sitting on 19 drain-soak dice which on average will net him what, about 5 successes - maybe 6 reliably? Is it worth the 50 karma to raise Magic to 10 to get one extra die on his magic tests and allow him to cast one force higher, and therefore have to deal with the extra point of drain?

For some people, the answer will be yes.  But that is their choice to make if it is in alignment with their character concept.

[Glyph]

That is one of the main reasons that priority, and SR4 build points, both use flat costs for areas that have exponential costs after character creation.  If some options are not cheaper to get at character creation, it is less likely those options will be taken at all.  The downside, at least for some people, is that this subtly encourages further "front-loading" - taking a skill of 6 rather than two skills of 3, even if the latter would fit the concept better, for example.

[Wakshaani]

Ayup. This is why Karma is, IMHO, a better measure, since "You have 12 skillpoints" is *quite* a bit different than "You have 100 Karma to spend on skills."