Traditional P&P and single player CRPGs suffer from a lack of dynamism within the players' party, especially during the early levels. A typical campaign starts with a weak fighter, unable to defeat much of anything, a weak thief who couldn't pickpocket a peasant, a mage who can barely light up a room, and maybe one or two other ineffective characters. I'm not aware of any RPG that doesn't start with an assortment of weak and powerless characters who are expected to struggle to survive in the most noobish places: the cave full of rats, or the alleyway full of thieves and rats.
Salamosam's blog
