Bauglir said:
I think it's a good analogy to discuss the concept of balance in general, as the party has such a gross imbalance as to clearly demonstrate any consequences.
Incidentally Gandalf was not just epic level he WAS a minor god.
Yeah to show that if you are going to adventure with a minor god you are not going to have a lot to do.
I have only used the point buy in two games the rest have been rolled PCs and I have never seen a big issue with balance. I think a lot of the problem maybe with poor DMs and poor players. A good DM makes sure all the players have things that challenge them. One way to bring up a PC with low stats is to give magic items. As for the players just because your wizard has a higer modifier for religion you don't have to shout out "I roll to see if I know what this is" before the party cleric gets a chance to try.
I also think that the style of game you play matters if you do nothing but combat then maybe a low stat PC will have nothing to do. I played for two and half years a character with way lower stats than the rest. I always had things to do I didn't die any easier than the others.
I find that the point buy gives generic characters with little flavor a lot of times a low stat can make an interesting background. I played with someone who rolled very well except for an 8 which she placed in con. The background she came up with was that she had been poisoned by a rival of her father.