I think one of the issues with fighters punching their way through walls is less an issue with hardness and mass and whatnot and more a problem with post 2e stat generation and accumulation.
Pre-3e, stats were static. What you started out with was what you had, unless you found items or tomes to raise it. As such, having 18/00 strength was a huge deal and made you the literal peak of physical power. Anything above 18/00 was quite simply inhuman - literally, in that no human being could naturally reach it. A Belt of Hill Giant's Strength gave you the strength of a hill giant. Furthermore odd numbers in stats still had an effect. You weren't limited to just sighing in frustration at your 17, knowing that it was useless until you patched it up.
Post-2e, stats were not static. Every x levels you raised your stats. This had a major change in things. There weren't belts of ____ giant's strength anymore, because by level 8 you'd have 20 strength already - instead, they were commonly just "belts of +2 strength." You also saw stats all become heavily rounded into even numbers only.
What's the big issue here? Simple - having 18 strength was no longer a big deal. It was expected in many cases. Having more then 18 strength also wasn't a big deal. Taking a pick and slamming it into a wall hard enough to break through when you had the strength of a giant is awesome and fits the genre. Having some bloke who just leveled up a few times do it is dumb and :| worthy. Even though the statistics are the same. It comes down not to the mechanics behind it, but the flavor and the feel. When the statistics are stripped away from the feel and just become numbers, they become boring.
Unless you're a math nerd like me. Then numbers are kicking rad. But I still prefer them with fluff ;p
Pre-3e, stats were static. What you started out with was what you had, unless you found items or tomes to raise it. As such, having 18/00 strength was a huge deal and made you the literal peak of physical power. Anything above 18/00 was quite simply inhuman - literally, in that no human being could naturally reach it. A Belt of Hill Giant's Strength gave you the strength of a hill giant. Furthermore odd numbers in stats still had an effect. You weren't limited to just sighing in frustration at your 17, knowing that it was useless until you patched it up.
Post-2e, stats were not static. Every x levels you raised your stats. This had a major change in things. There weren't belts of ____ giant's strength anymore, because by level 8 you'd have 20 strength already - instead, they were commonly just "belts of +2 strength." You also saw stats all become heavily rounded into even numbers only.
What's the big issue here? Simple - having 18 strength was no longer a big deal. It was expected in many cases. Having more then 18 strength also wasn't a big deal. Taking a pick and slamming it into a wall hard enough to break through when you had the strength of a giant is awesome and fits the genre. Having some bloke who just leveled up a few times do it is dumb and :| worthy. Even though the statistics are the same. It comes down not to the mechanics behind it, but the flavor and the feel. When the statistics are stripped away from the feel and just become numbers, they become boring.
Unless you're a math nerd like me. Then numbers are kicking rad. But I still prefer them with fluff ;p