The 'blank card' is a style of play that doesn't really interest me, the Ultima/Elder Scrolls side of rpgs, whenever I play those games I just feel like a passenger in a story that only happens to my character.
I also think there's a little difference between what we're after, a character with a history in the world, and a character who is ordained to be the one true protagonist. Older games, taking Baldur's Gate for instance, really don't define your character at all, you know your special, but beyond the beginning and end of the story, it doesn't really come into play. In those days the effect of your choices on the story are minimal too, it's not really a good comparison to make between old rpgs and newer games, where the interplay of the story and your choices has become such big part of the storytelling.
Related to this, I think JandK brings up a good point, people are treating Origin characters as dictating how they'll be forced to play their characters, but when you play them you'll be making decisions that will make them totally different people from how they are when the game is driving them. All we're talking about is who they are before the game starts, before you make your first choice.
You can never have a blank slate in a computer game you can only have a game that avoids dealing with your past or one where your past is pre-defined, I guess for a lot of people, creating a head-cannon around their blank slate is preferable to those alternatives, but for me having the game/story acknowledge your character and build off them is always going to be the more interesting choice.
