RPG's (emphasis on the ROLE) vary from game to game on how deep the story and lore are a meaningful part of the game. Since DA:O is the "spritual successor" to Baldur's Gate, which is based primarily on Dungeons and Dragons P&P world, it is no surprise that the depth of the lore is somewhat more than a lot of games. The core audience of these games, especially pen and paper D&D, thrive on this aspect of the game. I mean, how can you expect a table top game like that to be played without truly getting absorbed in the story and acting out "roles" in the context of the story. Might as well play yahtzee if you are going to "roll the dice".
By extention, BG and all the follow-ons were designed as an alternative for folks to play...another platform to add a little more realism and immersion...with the hopes of bringing a whole new set of players to the genre.
I realize there have been other RPG's, just using this as an example. Some folks just don't get that aspect of these types of games, while others get it, but can do with/without it, while still others truly thrive and invest themselves in that type of experience. Personally, I'm too A.D.D. for the p&p version, but I appreciate the story in a really well written cRPG, and DA:O is truly one of those.
I hope I enjoy D2 as much, because I definitely enjoyed D1.
I love a well written story just as much, but it seems I grew tired of the traditional D&D world. Still, I felt like dragon age lacked atmosphere. I felt a lot more immersed Fable or Risen. There is something fun about feeling as if your PC is real and as if everything in the world is real (quests with moral choices for example, I want "ppl" to think about me this way or the other), but dragon age quickly ruined this for me quite early somehow, I don't know excatcly what went wrong. Maybe its beacouse of how predictable everything was, but I don't really know.
However I really enjoy D2 story, even if it has some holes and isn't too deep, its more interesting than the one in Dragon Age even if there isn't so much lore in the world. Still, I really like the new short books thing D2 got, I hope more games will have it, for those who are intrested in lore, but only the interesting parts
