The Avernum series (I've finished the first two) are great examples of the wrongful implementation of the bad concept of "epic" gameworlds. "Epicness" is overhyped in the cRPG world, and Spiderweb falls for this as hard as any other company.
That's pretty much the only criticism I have, though. I think the Avernum series could be better if they focused more on quality over quantity, but they're still good games.