BG2 had enough placed gear that the item creation was a bonus not a requirement. Thats good games design in my book. If I dont pick up the shiny sword of chopping, thats my problem. But if the shiny sword of chopping only appears due to luck and not having it hikes the difficulty significantly. Thats poor games design.
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Shadowpaladin, meet reality:
Ditto for me, too.
Also, I would add, that my current character is level 9, about to be 10. I have since experimented with the level up mechanic: the bonuses are allocated as the PC gains a particular level, so there is no reason to not level (i.e. levelling up stats only counts towards the current major level that the PC is gaining). Except if you want to continually beat up rats with your steel sword, because rats are always level one.
I have not noticed the game getting proportionately more difficult, either. It has remarkably stayed almost exactly the same as my PC has levelled up.
Can't say fairer than that.