Character Point of View Editorial @ Planewalker Games

Taking a break from the usual weekly updates for The Broken Hourglass, Planewalker's Jason Crompton has instead penned an editorial inspired by thinking about the late Robert Jordan.  Here's an introductory snip:

Among fans (is there any other word for people who read eleven books on the same topic?) the core of the criticism against the later entries in the series seems to revolve largely around the multiple plot threads, which involve completely different characters in different places and occur at different times. Even when managed deftly, these plot lines tend to take on a life of their own, and merging them back together becomes a literary challenge—as both Jordan and his readers discovered.

Jordan is not alone. George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire book series has made it clear from the very beginning that it will spread its characters far and wide and dispose of protagonists at will. The most recent book in the series notably passes on expanding some of the plotlines altogether. This makes the series a daunting prospect for some readers, not to mention creating large gaps in narrative for fans.

Yet computer games generally and CRPGs particularly have not followed this trend, even though it clearly sells books. Why not games, as well?