Never said they couldn't be covered by flexible XPs.
The issues is what is the difference between one school or another.
I've never gone to a Combine academy and neither has anyone else on these forums. (unless something weird is happening)
So how do I spend my flexible XPs to simulate it? What if my friends PC goes there and he chooses a more academic flexible XPs grouping.
The Combine academy loses flavor because there is no direction
That's what guides like lifepaths are for, to tell you what a Combine academy is like.
If they don't then there just a group of skills that mean nothing.
Well, let's compare.
The NAIS increased 4 stats and gave you traits of promotion and well-equipped.
You got an academic skill, a bureaucracy skill, computers, swimming and advanced training in leadership, strategy, your choice of 3 skills, and access to a field
In ATOW , this would presumably count as a Military school for 830XP, plus field costs.
You have a pre requisites which add flavour, you get XP towards traits and skills and stats, and you get a choice of military fields.
You get a standard training which is likely to be shared between all such academies, and 100XP for customisation and flavour skills. And access to Advanced and Special Training
How do you spend your XP to simulate it? You don't. You dont have to. You simply say "This is where I went. This is where I trained."
Now, I get you want flavour...but what is the major difference between say, the NAIS and Sangalmore? Both elite colleges, both with similar schools and standards. The differences in culture are going to be based on their native faction - you aren't likely to get Quirk /Pro-Skye with the NAIS - and not on the type or quality of training which is what comes with the Academy. And you get that type of flavour with your choice of faction and sub-faction. Not your choice of school. Even in MW3 where such lists were given, what was offered? You got bonuses in stats, in traits, and access to field skills. And for military schools, bonuses to BOD, RFL, Well Equipped and Promotion were common...as were skills such as protocol\faction. All of which are fairly generic and covered by flexible skill points.
So yes - some "guidance" might be beneficial. But the guidance is that at the NAIS, you get taught Military History\Federated Suns while at the SZA, it'll be Military History\Draconis Combine. In one, it'll be Protocol\FedSuns, in the other Protocol\Combine. In one it'll be langauge\Japanese, the other Language\English.
What I am trying to say is that yes - I understand the desire for detail, for flavour.
But, given the relatively minor differences you are talking about, providing that sort of detail simpy isn't worth it. And given the way MW3 and ATOW operate, you can't easily rework the Lifepaths from one to the other either. What you would end up doing would be to reduce the flexibile XP at each Academy in favour of small bonuses to skills or traits
ATOW provides you the opportunity to be family trained, to be enlisted, to go to an elite academy or OCS, and they cover the major pathways.
Now, as I said -there is a benefit to what you want. But also a cost in page count, and in spreading the information around between books. Now, the ideal place for such a product would be the equivalent of the Handbook or House Books or Field Manuals. Overall though, I woud not expect them. Which is a pity. But one that I think is understandable - it would be a major cost in time, in opportunity, in page cost and in player convenience for what ultimately is very minor gain. The existing rules simply tell you to pick a Major Academy, add the exacvt school to your character bio, gives you a standrd skill set and allows you to add elective skills and traits to provide flavour, much of which is provdied by the Faction anyway.
