In the case of BG1 the said background is what happens with the charname along with the mystery that surrounds him. It is particularly cool that you can experience all the story yourself both embracing his ancestry and writing your own story. No wonder for me why so many people being attracted to him. There’s no need to force any cause for their company, since the charname himself is a cause enough.
This is what BG3 lacks imo. Mainchar is bland and practically non existent. He resembles more of an observer, while the first roles belong to his companions.
You can criticize the BG3 MC if you want, but that's not what this topic is about. This topic is about the relationship between the MC and the companions. the OP claimed that the way the MC is built makes it hard to believe people will follow him.
I think it is a very common problem to crpgs, and was present in bg1 as well, regardless of how good the backstory is (and at least on the case of bg1, it's really good)
I have it on good authority that the OP wasn't talking about how the MC is built. Rather it's about how the companions are built. It isn't just that they didn't give the companions a compelling reason to obey the MC. Its more egregious than that. They went out of their way to give them reasons NOT to obey the MC and then just ignored all those reasons when making them obey the MC anyway, without explanation.
Lae'zel is given strong motives to find her creche. Not only is it her duty to her Queen, but from her perspective, it is her only hope of getting the tadpole out and not turning into a mind flayer. And then a Tiefling tells her that Githyanki were spotted not a five-minute walk from where we are standing. She should be making a beeline for that bridge no matter what you say. But if Tav the Guild Artisan decides to just head into the Underdark and fight some minotaurs instead, she will abandon her duty to her Queen and accept the almost absolute certainty of turning into a mind flayer in order to follow Tav the Guild Artisan around like a lost puppy. And this very dramatic 180 for her character is never addressed.
Gale needs to eat magic items in order to survive. But his obedience to Tav the Guild Artisan is so extreme that he will beg for Tav to let him eat a magic staff that HE picked up and has in HIS inventory. Why in the world would he not just eat the staff that he picked up from Ethel's lair? Why is everything anyone finds on their journey automatically the property of Tav? If Tav's ownership of all the party's property is going to be a plot point, shouldn't there be some explanation of how that ownership was established? What compelling reason does Gale have that he would literally rather die than do something without Tav's permission?
Even other games that don't give particularly strong motives for characters to follow the MC at least don't give them the strongest possible reasons NOT to and then make them do it anyway. BG3 is hands down the worst culprit I've seen in this regard.
