>Secondly, most stats scale exponentially...

I believe stats scale non-linearly in CF. In some cases
you could even make the case they scale exponentially,
however in practice I certainly believe that the difference
is not actually that large. Specifically in the case of 23
vs. 24str, it isn't likely the (for instance) damage output
will look anything like exponentially better, or that the
exponent is so close to 1 that it looks functionally linear.

In short, I think you'd be better served by looking at just
how much an effect 1 str would have in practice. Do you parry
3% better? Do you do 1% more damage? There are a ton of
small affects, I'm sure, but if the overall change in any
given effect is less than 10%, it probably isn't overly
noticeable for a person who takes the edge.

I know, in my personal anecdotal evidence with shigru that
I probably wouldn't take that edge again because without
knowing a lot more about the effects, it feels like the
difference is a few hp (at best).

Its really hard, on the player end, to quantify and make
informed decisions when so much of these things, like edge
point cost vs. overall edge points you can reasonable earn
are hidden.

It is entirely possible this player would be just as unhappy
with it if he knew exactly how much Lug costs, and how many
edge points he could earn (via edge point specifics), but I
think it is more likely they would approach the complaint
differently (don't you think this costs too much?) vs WTF
why can't I take this edge if it wasn't a surprise due to
lack of information.