I think in KotOR a lot of the pnp elements were dropped in favour of the story (extra classes, specifically)... Which, I'm led to believe, is the reason I, and a lot of other people bought the game.
I had fun playing a Jedi, and to be honest, the fact that I was more powerful than some of the other NPC's lent credence to the fact that my character used to be a Dark Lord of the Sith and nearly brough the galaxy to its knees. That said, the other characters were almost always a lower level than me until near the end of the game.
Thats my two pence, I guess.