Yeah I do agree that often the skills tend to be a stepping stone to the actual part of the content you want to get to.
Having said that I think it also depends on what you want to get out of the game. For most it’s doing X quest, having X gear or killing X monster. Its more rare for people to want to be able to chop redwood for example as a goal, because reaching it is very “boring” to most and it doesn’t amount to as much considering it’s “prestige/bragging rights, value, score”
Maybe that is part of why those skills are stepping stones. The end is much more hollow and boring compared to the learning curve of a combat skill which has this high skill ceiling facilitated by the bosses for example.
My first gekoloniseerd on lemmy… i am humbled sir. Lets test your metal: Friet > Patat