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Hi Slanted -
Skills increase through use, so there's no need to follow repitition at all. The majority of our skills - both their use and their improvement - are handled by an event system, which will give varied messages depending upon the phase of the project you are in (ie, during creating a sword with blacksmithing, you first smelt the ore, then hammer it out into a rough shape, work on its tensile strength, ad hominem). So, in one sense there's repitition when using the standard skill-use-improve paradigm.
However, it's entirely possible through the use of inspiration to improve upon a skill or series of skills without once going through any repititon. Inspiration is gained through roleplay with others, and usable to increase any ability further than its current state.
Improvement of skills is not immediate; there is a period of assessment in which the ability is held in a 'pool' of working knowledge, which slowly dissipates into raw actual knowledge.
I'm not sure what you mean by time sinks. There is no period of waiting around in which you can do nothing- all events within the game are handled by a threaded system (an event handler) which spans the passage of the event over a period of time. Thus, when you fish (for example), you cast your line into the water, let it meander, perhaps get a bite, hook the fish, bring it in, etc. - rather than the standard default of "fish -> You caught a grouper!".
So, in one raw sense there is a time-sink, inasmuch that you don't realize immediate gratification for events you begin. Further, if you were to, say, begin mounting your horse, and then decide to cast your fishing line back into the lake, you would cease the mounting before casting.
In the other sense, the one which I think you mean: There is no delay state imposed upon your character for performing an ability, nor is there a hold before other actions can be performed. (By the former, I mean the situation wherein you can do nothing; your client is essentially frozen until the state is elapsed).
Roleplay is consistent - there is always someone on roleplaying. Our playerbase is diverse enough that you will find events occuring round the clock. However, there are occasionally large events, such as the recent Yuletide celebration, which occur during a series of prime times for various persons. The time system inherent to The Inquisition is such that it is daytime at different times each day for the various time zones of the world. You may not always find who you are looking for (a merchant, for example) when you need them, but people all always around.
--Robbert
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