I have only lesbian archer Corwin and she's just, i don't know, random. From drinking together to "do i look like a whore, shit
Did you read what I wrote, son? Their backstory is not the problem. Its their lack of commentary and opinions. I don't know which game you played, son - but in my playthrough their comments were completely neutral. It felt like this:
I don't see what factions have to do it. BG2 has a faction conflict after all ('Shadow thieves vs. vampires') and it's not something that's heavy on lore. Prior to developing their own IP's, Bioware games simply didn't feature a lot of world building. Instead, their general MO seemed to be to take an iconic aspect of a franchise and focus on it. The BG games do that with the (aftermath of the) Time of Troubles, Kotor does that by recycling almost every plot element from the original trilogy (although primarily a New Hope). It's probably one of the reasons why their games became so succesful.
Well, what I'm talking about is less about the sheer amount of lore and more about how the plot uses said lore. Basically, how much lore detail do you need to have a good understanding of the game's story?
I think the move to faction-centric storylines in RPGs has made them more "lore-dependent" and details-driven. You don't need to understand much about the Flaming Fist or the Iron Throne to comprehend the storyline of Baldur's Gate, because the story isn't about them. They're basically generic medieval guards/baddies like you've seen a in a hundred other fantasy stories.
But once you put factions at the center of your story, once you make a story that's about large groups with wider agendas and motivations rather than heroic individuals, that requires giving the player an understanding of all sorts of historical and social dynamics aka LORE.
Errr.. what? Can you elaborate?...Kotor does that by recycling almost every plot element from the original trilogy (although primarily a New Hope)...
Well, what I'm talking about is less about the sheer amount of lore and more about how the plot uses said lore. Basically, how much lore detail do you need to have a good understanding of the game's story?
I think the move to faction-centric storylines in RPGs has made them more "lore-dependent" and details-driven. You don't need to understand much about the Flaming Fist or the Iron Throne to comprehend the storyline of Baldur's Gate, because the story isn't about them. They're basically generic medieval guards/baddies like you've seen a in a hundred other fantasy stories.
But once you put factions at the center of your story, once you make a story that's about large groups with wider agendas and motivations rather than heroic individuals, that requires giving the player an understanding of all sorts of historical and social dynamics aka LORE.
It's standard faction quest stuff, a few mutually exclusive quests. No reason why it couldn't have LORE and ideological conflict, aside from what I mentioned - Bioware simply didn't do that stuff. By contrast, PS:T had optional faction quests that weren't mutually exclusive (i.e. a more permissive quest structure), but the factions helped flesh out themes and TNO's backstory.
Kotor is about a group of Republic allies flying around in a stolen freighter ship trying to prevent a space station with planet-destroying capability from taking over the galaxy, punctured by a second-act plot twist about the identity of the protagonist. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's a summary of the OT as well.
