Adding and subtracting perks was always super simple. This functionality was in A16. In any case, that is not the issue.
The functionality of A17 is lightyears beyond A16.
What people are expressing concern over is that so many of the mechanics and systems (player/action/crafting skills, book reading, assembly mechanics, repair ?, durability ?, quality levels) are being removed or severely curtailed. The only core system affecting player progression which appears to be left standing is a very static, linear system that one person here described as whack a perk.
player/action/crafting skills meaning (I take it) learning by doing is indeed gone as forced game mechanic. But you can still simulate it voluntarily if it is critical to immersion. Nothing forces you to only kill zombies and then spend those earned points to become a better farmer. You do earn xp for farming so you could do that and earn points and then spend it on farming. The only thing that would stop you from doing that is a desire to min/max for rapid xp. Most laughable are the examples given of how "digging sand somehow magically makes the player a better sharp shooter". Laughable because good and rapid xp gains are available from shooting zombies so the player
could spend time earning xp by shooting zombies and then spend the points to be a better sharpshooter. If learning by doing is so desirable then why don't these people play the game that way when the ability is right in front of them? The answer is obviously that they love something else more...efficiency and endgame rush.
Book Reading: Books will still play a role in the game. Book reading was always stated to be a placeholder mechanic.
Assembly mechanic: Used for attaching mods which are being expanded from weapons to vehicles, tools, and clothing. Instead of the same five components always making essentially the same pistol with the only differentiation being damage and durability, now there are going to be dozens and eventually hundreds of components turning a pistol into markedly different weapons being differentiated by damage, reload speed, magazine size, fire rate, accuracy, spread, fall off rate, and even color. But that's not all. You can have mods that will do things like restore stamina as you use the weapons using them. The whole process of attaching mods works exactly like the assmebly mechanic did. So really its like the assembly mechanic got a huge shot in the arm.
Repair: Repair is still in the game. It hasn't been curtailed or removed. Once it is fully implemented it should be a deeper mechanic than it ever was before making it a choice between doing field repairs immediately or wait and do careful repairs at a workstation.
Durability: Still in the game.
Quality: Still in the game with the same exact number of levels. Quality in A16 was just a difference in durability and damage. Quality in A17 will be so much more with mod slots.
Essentially, modders are being asked to limit their work to what I would call ancillary systems like buffs, POIs, zombie archtypes and this is what I find discouraging. Of course, perks can be modded as well ... but the core system behind the perks remains one which is static, linear, and limiting in nature. Believe me, I hope I am wrong... after all, we certainly haven't seen everything... but I don't think I am.
Not only have you not seen everything you haven't seen even a fraction and you are making a lot of false assumptions. If you truly hope to be wrong then let me support you in your hope. Modders will be very pleased. They won't be complaining about some little box they've been placed in with lots of secondhand toys to play with. They will be oohing and aahing at the vast new world ahead of them.
