I say we get rid of the numerical system on skills. People won't accept duels if they know they have only 20% in swordfighting while their opponents have something like 50%.
And about a person trained in academy being better than someone hardened on the battlefield, I say the trainee might be able to beat a soldier in a duel to surrender but doubt he can defeat the other person in a death duel.
I agree partially with the first statement. I would not remove the numerical system, but I would
hide it from the players. Maybe it could be generalized more? Perhaps simply: A
good fighter, an
average fighter, and a
poor fighter. This leaves room for interpretation, second guessing, uncertainty, investigation, and perhaps a more "realistic" approach to dueling; yet behind the classes are the actual numbers.
One could RP the situation being: "Well I heard Sir Gron is a fairly decent fighter, but his competitor, Sir Heskalis, is also familiar with the blade. It should be a good match up, I'm truly uncertain at who will win." The part I like most about this idea is even the players dueling wouldn't know, until the end of the duel. If an average fighter were to face a good fighter for instance, then the good fighter would probably win. This keeps a distinction, adding fighters to "classes" instead of letting the world know they're exactly 80% efficient at sword fighting.
In terms of medieval atmosphere, as mentioned earlier, this would be the most realistic approach - having grand tales of one's triumphs/honor, over the fledgling experiences of another. They could be told through the streets, in courts, and always rumored about because the people only know you're good, not exactly how good. This would also present a gamble, as criticized earlier, but essentially that is what dueling to the death was - a gamble of life in the name of honor. You are trying to win your honor, or regain your honor, over the competitor's. You are taking a
chance in believing your sword arm is superior than the other.
I'm not familiar with the coding, but at first glance, I would guess it would only be patch work with this idea. You would keep the system, but only publish different wording to the player. Again, I'm unsure, and I could be completely wrong.