In a way, you're right, attributes for high priorities tend to be lower in 5th edition than it was in 1st to 3rd. But, you also have to consider the way things are balanced in the game. You compared the average stats of a high-ability scored human, but did you make the calculations for every other metatype ?
You're trying to compare with previous editions, which is, in theory, not a bad way to consider things. Though, you have to consider the priority table as a whole, not just a single column. Let's have a detailed look at what was done in 3rd (the edition I know best besides 5th), and why it explains a lot of things that were done around total points.
Ability scoresA - 30 (av. 5)
B - 27 (av. 4.5)
C - 24 (av. 4)
D - 21 (av. 3.5)
E - 18 (av. 3)
In 3rd, all of your points had to be bought, and you only had 6 attributes. Which equates to a low-end average of 3, and a high-end average of 5 for humans. Plus, there's a good reason in the next part that explains why.
In 5th, you have 8 attributes, and less points, thus you have more choices to make, and you have to leave more flaws. That's part of the design principle : attributes shouldn't always be top-priority for most characters. We'll keep in mind the average low-end of 3 (1 free point in every attribute, 16/8 = 2 additional points) and the high-end of 4 (free, 24/8 = 3 additional) for humans.
MetatypesA - Nothing
B - Nothing
C - Elf, Troll
D - Dwarf, Ork
E - Human
Well, that would call a rework for the metatype column, considering Special points.
Second thing, races used to be different : their bonuses to stats were real bonuses, but they also had penalties, you had to buy off. (Yeah, the troll had to invest at least 3 attribute points in both intelligence and charisma to have a 1 in both)
If we consider a troll in both editions,
Attributes E : B 8 ; Q 2; S 7 ; I 1 ; C 1 ; W 3 (av. 2,66)
Attributes A : B 10 ; Q 4 ; S 9 ; I 3 ; C 3 ; W 5 (av. 4,66)
Attributes E : B 7 ; A 3 ; R 3 ; S 7 ; W 3 ; L 3 ; I 3 ; C 3 (av. 4)
Attributes A : B 8 ; A 4 ; R 4 ; S 8 ; W 4 ; L 4 ; I 4 ; C 4 (av. 5)
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Here, you can see that a low-attribute troll in 3rd has huge flaws (I 1 and C 1) making it unplayable, on average. In 5th, a low-end troll, even if not excellent, is still playable. This reasoning applies to every metatype that used to have negative modifiers, that don't exist in 5th. And high-attribute trolls are also better on average than in 3rd. (which totally explains their being a B+ priority)
MagicA - Full magician
B - Aspected magician, adept
C - Nothing
D - Nothing
E - Nothing
Basically, you want magic, you have to expend a high priority on it. However, you have a Magic attribute equal to your rounded down Essence. That also meant that if you wanted to play a human character without magic, you had NO benefit for putting either at D.
In 5th, you can be aspected from D to B, and full magician from C to A, due to the expansion of the metatype table to include special attributes.
Skills5th equivalent values are between parentheses, skill group points are worth their 3 skill points minimum value (not considering worthiness of either skill, that's another debate)
A - 50 (46 + 10 Group = 76)
B - 40 (36 + 5 Group = 51)
C - 34 (28 + 2 Group = 34)
D - 30 (22)
E - 27 (18)
In terms of equivalency, the average stays the same : 34 in 3rd, 28+2G=34 in 5th.
But it's not the only value to compare :
- the ratio between high and low values is completely different : in 3rd, you have a roughly 2:1 discrepancy between A and E. In 5th, you have a 4:1 ratio, making a low-skill choice much more painful.
- plus, as it average stays the same, it means either or both low and high reach more extreme values. In 5th, it's both.
- still, it's compensated for Magic characters, who get free skill points in their dedicated skill groups.
Specializations also worked differently : more specific (no SemiAuto spec), free at character creation, but they also imposed a -1 to the base skill rating, creating a difference of 2 points between base skill and spec. Thus, Pistols 5 becomes Pistols 4 (Ares Predator 6). It also means you couldn't have a skill at 6 and a spec : you had to choose between a skill at 6 and a skill at 5 with a spec at 7.
The second thing here, is that specializations are improved separately from the base skill during gameplay. You could evolve to Pistols 4 (Ares Predator
.
To summarizeAs such, 3rd characters are more ability score-focused, where 5th are more skill-focused. That's where the game paradigm shifted, to create more interest in the way the priority system could be used. So, no. There's no real reason to change the column for attributes, without making many other changes to the table.
You can also, lore-wise, attribute that fact to the progressive increase in pollution levels, and other supernatural phenomena, that had an impact on attribute development, but as you could see, it did, surprisingly, only apply to some races.