If it 'feels bad' for you, to only be a *Little* better than everyone else at your chosen specialisation at *Level 1*, that's not the fault of the game, or the d20... that problem lies between chair and character sheet.
It cuts both ways actually, you could argue that the system doesn't provide enough or you can argue that the player is being unreasonable. You can easily reach this conclusion by comparing systems or deliberately crafting a system in which one or the other is true to you, as a person, and to other people. It's not that hard of a concept to understand.
If you are repeatedly and consistently failing checks that you have a high bonus for, and regularly succeeding in checks that you don't think you ought to have been able to succeed at... that's a DM problem, not a problem of the system or the d20 (maybe the d20, if it's the same one and providing such a predictable result - maybe float it and check).
The only reason the system gets away with it is because it explicitly says the DM can change any and all of the rules to fit the situation -- the DM is the Word of God. The system also assumes that the DM is a rational, fun loving, human being. That's a pretty fragile and weak system because when you don't have that DM present you run into issues -- you're asking a lot from a CRPG and that's why save scumming is going to be a thing and why player experience may be negatively impacted.
It should be pretty apparent that what's satisfying to you may not fit the bill for a great deal of many other players.
