I feel as if characters are going to have to start younger too, to make sense of them being so much worse at things. Older characters with longer histories but no skills seems... not so good.

Also, I disagree with you on "IRL skills are negligible" with regards to social characters. Even if we have people we know are social IRL, that doesn't mean we can still properly convey it. It doesn't take a mastermind to have a sword swing with a few words in a RP, but if you want all socials based on your ability to RP then some characters are going to be more powerful by virtue of their player just having a better way with words.