True. But what a scope and what an effort, to play and review 100's of PC and mainframe RPG's over a span of many many years, and thus to create a more or less comprehensive history of these games from very obscure beginnings to the early 1990's (until now)! Perhaps someone else fills the console gap :-).

Yes, there are other ways, too.
In my mind there is too much focus on fighting - I would replace it by the more general term "removing or overcoming obstacles", which may be opponents, but also other obstacles, physical ones, lack of information, etc. Not in the way of Adventure Games with their (more or less logical) "logic puzzles". Just like a monster, an "obstacle" may have stats which are compared with related player character stats (this is used in CRPG's when opening doors or chests, for example). In this context, I find quest markers (as an example) not only upsetting, but also a lost opportunity to make games more interesting and immersive. I do understand that it's a lot easier (for designers and developers) to build in quest markers than hints or other ways to help a player find a certain place, NPC or object.
And most importantly, the focus should be more on the "what" and "why", and not on the "how". I think most CRPGs are primarily about winning fights, defeating opponents, culminating in occasional "boss fights", everything else is accessory, cosmetics. Looks like most players want it this way.
And it looks like I'm getting too far away from the topic of this thread ... :-)