@dArtagnan it definitely adds an extra couple layers of player creation complexity. based on your work, i'd expect the base rule differences to be the more interesting part, rather than player option changes and stuff like skill specialties.
there's a number of places that commonly accepted beneficial 5e table rules are how the A5e rules work.
we took a long while to come around to A5e. first looked at it back in 2022 or early '23, but only in the last few months really changed our mind to liking it best of the 5e-ites.