I was there in the trenches in the early 80s. We quickly outgrew the style mentioned in the OP.
Instead, we started doing long-term campaigns with actual PC goals. The most memorable was owning a valley around Name Level and putting the rightful heir to the throne back in the chair after destroying the usurper and his cronies.
We went from level 3 to level 12. We did not start at level 1. We rolled 5d6 and kept the best 3, distribute to have the character you wanted to play.
One group I knew was into heavy role-playing, always staying in character and doing lots of social encounters and political intrigues at the court. No dungeons.