My feeling unfortunately is that they're leaving the story too cut and dry now. As you said, Rhode, Bellegar, Zandalor, etc. they all leave wonderful openings for increase in depth. I'm not too fond of the speechless hero these days, simply because it's next to impossible to truly make an engaging emotional story where you fall in love with the characters. It just doesn't happen if you can't tap into the perspective of someone in the world AS their perspective as opposed to being yourself projected in.
***SPOILER***
But that said, Rhode was just... an unworthy situation for her setup character. Granted she wasn't prevalent in the initial story after a point, but she's set up in a classic literature way: she's one of the first characters we see. As such, she by default has an important place in our minds if she's still alive in the story, and in the same vein, having her death mean nothing is equally as jarring in the wrong type of way. So I sincerely hope they do something creative with her. It doesn't even take much energy to think of endless possibilities.
Bellegar was a little under-utilized as well. He was a running gag in general, but he could have been assembled into something much deeper with very little trouble. And Zandalor I am just disappointed in compared to the originals. I loved the fact that he looked like the traditional wizard, but I always pictured him speaking more like Richard Harris as Dumbledore for lack of a better analogy, a voice that wafted power from a visage that completely went against what people might think as they looked at him. Him acting like Merlin from Sword in the Stone in his role makes me just kind of wish to slap him since his words don't even hint to his wisdom in any scene but the very end of the expansion.
I really wished for more of a Planescape: Torment perception on the demonic aspects of the realms. I didn't choose the demon at the end, I'm wondering if it's even worth checking what would have happened. Because it was basically the original game's story, just this time you were completely aware you were being used so it wasn't a shock at all. It's like the original game you are seduced by the nice neighbor who you've known for years who happens to finally show his true colors, whereas in Flames of Vengeance the villain's like a fat, smelly dude in an apron covered in blood selling candy out of a beat up van with "Free Candy" spray-painted on the side. The intrigue is... subdued
well by the way merry christmass guys and a wonderful new year