robertthebard,
Even if they start, like Tiefling kids, at 8, that's still quite an age which I don't see in our characters. When I look in the mirror, it's right there, and there's no way to hide it.
Also, I don't think DA example is relevant here. I didn't play Origins, but in both DA 2 and Inquisition the Rogue is a completely suitable and respectable profession for anyone. First, because Rogues there aren't really rogues in the DnD sense, and second, because in DA everything goes as long as you are not a Mage.
The best way to describe my stance on the topic is probably this: moving between different social strata always generated intense hatred in medieval societies (which FR is based on). Nouveau riche are generally despised everywhere, and by everyone. An Urchin who bought themselves into a noble district will have lots of tension with their neighbours. Similarly, a Noble who lost their fortune and now has to (somehow!) live alongside paupers, will be equally loathed (by both their neighbours and other nobles).
If Larian is smart, they can use this aspect to add a twist to Tav's story once we reach Baldur's Gate. That would be tremendous. However, I don't see them to be particularly interested in creating a deep, complex storyline for our custom character.
That would be because the main game is the story for the main character, whether that character is Tav or not. I do not want to play Geralt of Baldur's Gate, if I wanted that, I could roll with one of the Origin characters. I want Tav to be a blank slate, allowing me to fill in those blanks. Allow me to counter "but in real life" with one fantasy/fictional example: Robin Hood. No, I'm not suggesting that one has to role play to that archetype, but, just because something doesn't add up in real life doesn't mean it can't work in a fantasy setting. I cannot, for the life of me, remember the last time I went and slayed a dragon because it was eating my cattle, or that I went sewer diving because I was broke.
So, you can suspend your disbelief enough to slay dragons, and meet people that can throw magical balls of force from their fingers, or maybe throw them yourself, but you can't suspend it for a Noble playing at Street Urchin, or a Street Urchin becoming a successful thief? That's not a flaw in game design. This is a self-imposed limitation. Full circle to my original point here, I don't want a predefined Tav, that's why it's a custom character. The predefined roles/characters exist in the form of Origin characters, if that's what one is looking for. What they did before the start of the game, and how they did it is, and should be, entirely on me to define. I don't know if it's funny, or sad, that after decades of reading "I don't want to play the developer's character", I'm now seeing "I want Larian to define Tav for me".
Just for fun though, take a look at how many possible Tavs there are in character creation. How many years do you imagine it would take to write "satisfying" backstories for all of them? That's every class, every choice that can be made within each class, every background, and every possible combination thereof. As an aside to that, we don't even have all the possible races and classes that could show up in the final game yet, so it gets even worse as we pile them on. Now imagine the outrage if they just shoehorned every possible choice into a handful of possible backstories. I'm thinking the dumpster fire from that would overshadow anything these forums have seen to date. However, that would be the "best bet" to predefine Tav, given the sheer number of possible stories that are there, just in character creation. At some point it is, and should be, up to the player to fill in some blanks. It should be up to the player to determine why their warlock Tav went with this deity instead of that one, instead of expecting Larian to explain it for them.
