Like the two players in Oofta's example? I was just trying to point out that your invocation of 'maturity' wasn't necessarily a dig at preferring array (which, per the standard rules, a player can simply choose to use instead of rolling) or point-buy, which is how a few folks seem to have taken it...
I don't know. I actually enjoy playing and DMing at my table more since we changed from the 3e method of rolling and rerolling (and bumping up a weak result to bring that player closer to parity with the rest of the group) and adopted the Standard Array as the only choice.
I don't think those are really issues with the general methods, just the specific instances, themselves. If you want your campaign to feature characters with stat's above 15, you can raise the cap and give more points, you could use an array like 18,13,11,10,8,3 or 18,16,15,14,13,12. If you /do/ want a 15 cap, you can roll 2d6+3 or re-roll results of 16-18, or whatever.
I think it's more that it can, then that it will. Gambling's popular, even though the house builds in an advantage for itself, because you /could/ win, not because you will more likely lose. With random, you may get the best array of the group, or, just as likely, the worst. The odds aren't even tilted particularly against you - you have the same chance as everyone else.
There is the chance of the soft-hearted DM allowing the re-roll, or the hard-hearted one gleefully killing you off when given half a chance.
Same h.p.? Well, some might be...if they rolled the same on a d10 and have the same Con bonus...but by no means all.
How much of that stuff comes from pure natural selection (i.e. the randomness of stats) and how much comes from training (skills, maybe saves)? If we make the blanket (and admittedly unrealistic, but it's what we have to work with) assumption that fighter training is basically the same everywhere, then some of the similarity is going to come from the training received.
It isn't, and it's something I'd change somehow. Along with most of the rest of the skill system...
Training, as noted above. That said, here is one place where the 1e idea of being proficient in only a few specific weapons rather than entire categories or 'all' holds water, however, as it allows more differentiation among Fighters - I'm a sword-and-board tank, you're a two-weapon specialist, she's an archer all the way, etc.
The math (see various examples through the many pages prior to here) shows that rolling on 4d6x1 is on a long-term-average basis going to give you very slightly higher numbers than point-buy, with both being slightly higher yet than standard array.
