As many of the fanbase love the roleplay side of Battletech, my suggestion goes this way. I don't know which pilot skills will be integrated, but my wild guess is they will depict some technical skills giving you slight advantages in maybe weapon handling, heat regulation or enhance sensors.
My idea is to reward players with an animation of their skills. I give an example: You earned the skill "enhanced radar range 5%". In the startup phase now the player would see his mechwarrior tap twice on the radar screen, manipulate some buttons and dials, then tap at the radar screen again. It could be like a two second animation.
I bet people would always be looking forward for the next upgrade of it, or for different animations, would simply get an optical reward for what they achieved. It would boost the atmosphere way up, while the player can better associate with the mechwarrior he's controlling.
In the same breath I suggest to make it really hard to get pilot skills, to nourish the feeling of uniqueness and reward.
Sincerely
P.S.: Maybe it's something for later, after release, I know it needs time to code the animations.
Edited by Shredhead, 25 April 2012 - 12:03 PM.