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I agree with variol on this one. I'm not sure of his motivations, but here is my reasoning. I realise that not everyone will feel that these are bad things about NPCs, and that for many there are benefits that give them much joy to play NPCs. However, I feel that these reasons are being unfairly dismissed.
On the first point of experience being spread too thin, I dont know what overlevelling is (I've never played diablo nor have I heard the term before). It sounds like this implies that maximising your core RPCs levelling opportunities is somehow distasteful. As I believe EEW once put it (and please forgive me if I paraphrase), a level-up is like Christmas. To me, excluding NPCs for the purpose of "hoarding" exp for my core team is a way of trying to maximise those Christmas presents. It doesnt make the game any easier (if anything, the fewer people there are to spread damage over makes it more difficult). I dont see how this is wrong or bad.
Also, in an 8 person party, you rarely get to fully develop characters before the end of the game. By excluding the various NPCs, and/or reducing your core RPCs to 5 or 4 or fewer, you get to fully explore the abilities of your characters before the game is over and meet some different opponents at the higher levels.
On the second point, it is true that some parts of the plot require open NPC slots. However, those arent the only reasons NPCs wont enter areas. Regardless of why NPCs leave, the fact is that they do. When you you have put all the care and concern into keeping them alive, spent your hard earned dough equipping them, developed them with love, watched them grow, only to have them turn their backs on you, it feels like a real let down. Why put all that effort in when you'll lose them just when they're becoming part of the family? And furthermore, if you go back to pick them up later, they're often farther behind on experience and require babysitting until they catch up.
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