I will say just for fairness sake though, that the martial encounter had the same exact set-up (rises dead-center of room, over a pit, and immediately got surrounded) and didn't even have a potentially Wis-draining haunt right before it (though the haunt didn't actually get to do anything which is why I didn't actually mention it before.)
So this proves a fighter is better in melee than a wizard that can't cast spells? I'm not sure that was ever in question. I think I can also say a fighter is worse at casting than a wizard for more breaking news...
good Stealth check, dark dungeon where visibility is poor, busy city street where suddenly people around you draw weapons, Hanging out at the back of the party where you should be safe while others move into room to fight then back up comes from behind and one of the others your party is fighting turns on you thus surrounding you. (also wasn't it the monsters that were incorporeal not the wizard?)
Oh it can happen but it's uncommon that you'll have 3+ surrounding any single character before initiatives: it's even worse when dealing with multiple foes being stealthy as a single failed check reveals the ambush. Even less so for a caster to be hanging out in potentially dangerous areas without buffs. You can also catch a fighter naked without their weapons and armor going to the bathroom in the inn but I don't expect it to happen on a regular basis. :P
PS: a wizard with a familiar is better off than most vs the 'sneaky' surrounding: a familiar gets to also roll to notice too and often had senses that the wizard doesn't [scent, echolocation, low light, darkvision, ect] making them less likely the miss an attack.
Example of Caster Martial Disparity, live and ongoing in the Shifter rebalance thread.
Druid vs Shifter
Jason Bulham: "the class is a bit underwhelming when compared to others, especially the druid. We always knew that the class would be compared to the druid, and part of our design attempted to speak to that comparison, treating the shifter as a martial version of the druid concept. "
The original shifter is terrible, even a druid without spellcasting has been shown to be better. This is how this game is designed bottom up, and while you can apply coats of paints that motor is still the same. They've designed some good and interesting classes through the years (alchemists, kineticists) but when it comes to making something purely martial we end up in the same design constrained space.
Source:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uuob?Changes-to-the-Shifter
Asks for example. gets example. Criticize example. Standard internet argument tactics. That and a lot of absolute statements that sound ridiculous. Example: That should NEVER happen. X should ALWAYS go this way. Absolute statements are "almost" always flawed.
*abandon thread*
Sigh.
I liked that ProfPotts in the original post asked for actual examples. As a professional statistician, I learned that techniques must be tested against actual data. Likewise, Pathfinder theorycrafting must be tested against actual experience.
So I had hoped to see more examples. And the first two dozen posts were solid. After that, the thread unravelled into many arguments about a few examples.
In my own experience, I balance the adventures so that all PCs have some fun and the players balance the roles among themselves. Maybe the magus could have learned spells to take the rogue role from the gunslinger in my Iron Gods campaign, but the gunslinger had a high Wisdom for Perception and a trait and high Dexterity for Disable Device, so she took care of the traps and locked doors. The magus was happy to let her claim that specialty and focussed on being the Knowledge expert.
One case where the PCs were judged individually was The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, a Tian Xian combat-oriented olympics that I added to my Jade Regent campaign at 10th level. Three PCs and one NPC participated as a team, but were rated individually by the judges. The magus ranked highest. His combination of martial prowess and a variety of spells let him do something bold and dashing in almost any situation. The samurai came in second. His horsemanship and combat-manuever build gave him expertise in many athletic events while also dominating in combat. The fighter came in third. His great strength paid off in some athletic events and he never lost in combat. The oracle came in fourth. As an NPC, her spells were chosen for support and she did not have the combat prowess of her teammates, but her time-mystery revelations gave her good mobility. The competing NPCs on other teams were honestly worse than the party members, because they had been built with a narrower focus. My style of running a game encourages versatility, so the party could apply their mastery to athletics. And I had added more ordinary athletics to the tournament.
The ninja and sorcerer PCs stayed out of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament because they preferred working from the shadows.
Later, the player of the magus wanted more arcane power, believing that spells matter more than BAB at higher levels. So I let him rebuild his character as a magus-like archetype for the arcanist. Thus, that player did believe in the caster-martial disparity.
The only other example I have is a wizard teleporting the party past some encounters in my Rise of the Runelords campaign. They weren't important encounters, and I have seen other parties in other campaigns bypass even more by taking alternative transportation.