Quote Originally Posted by Nazrakin View Post
No, those are necessities. That said, there is nothing wrong with time sinks as long as they are rewarding and (preferably) optional. Skill levels are not at all rewarding, they are a pure time waster.
I'm not sure if you get the concept behind something being rewarding.

You got a pretty direct reward for leveling up your skills, you preformed much better at a task than without them.