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Yes, but the point is that it's possible to define the same pattern (the progress on a skill slowing down the higher it goes) without those complicated formulas and in a way that is directly transparent.

That level of complexity is just not necessary. Pen&paper games already simulated those situations. This is from Stormbringer, straight from the rulebook:
- Suceeding at a poorly-known skill is hard, but you learn a lot when you succeed. An expert in a skill usually suceeds at it. Since he or she already knows most of what there is to know about it, the expert improves at a slower rate than a novice.

This is already way more evolved and realistic than any mmorpg out there. This can be gameplay. Something that the players understand and can relate to directly. The math used there just doesn't bring anything to the table. It only gets in the way.

I just took that as an example but what I said was intended more as an universal principle. No rule in the game should be mathematically intensive. That type of complexity is USELESS. It just makes the game obscure and harder to maintain. Try to find a bug between a million of complicated formulas, try to figure out if everything works as intended or if there's a problem somewhere. That level is just unmanageable.

And it's also an approach that brings you directly off-track. Not only it is useless, but it's a huge risk that you'll pay later. Because it brings you to tackle the problems in the wrong way and focus on structures that are meaningless for the players.

Game design should never be about that.