Unlocking all skills is boring, plain and simple.

For you, perhaps, but not for everyone. For me it's simply about ensuring the mech is performing at an optimum level. I also don't want yet another layer on top of the vast customization already possible for each mech. It's practically unnecessary and amounts to just another time and resource sink that isn't necessary in a game with a grind as high as this one's is already.

Having to make an actual choice makes skills a bit more than just an xp tax, the mech becomes slightly more yours, more customized to the way you want to play it.

The difference with MWO compared to an RPG is that we already have the ability to dramatically change and customize each mech via its loadout and upgrades to make it as individualized as we'd like. On top of that, we now also have modules and quirks to further tweak its performance relative to its peers.

There's no felt need for lack of customization that warrants turning Skills into a branching tree with either/or restrictions or a c-bill sink, and there's very little practical gameplay performance gain in doing so. It simply adds more frustration, grind, and minutia to a game already loaded with mech customization and configuration options that are already close to being overwhelming as far as options and out of control as far as the grind.

We already have to spend the time setting up weapons, armor, equipment, and modules whenever we want to build or re-build a mech. While the Skills do need a revamp, it would not be a welcome change to have to start choosing between skills the way we already do with everything else I just listed, or using the same limited grind-based resource to "purchase" them or re-spec them.