Wolfenbarg

I disagree. No, TNO is not a Chosen One: He chose himself to pursue immortality for his own reasons. The Chosen One trope stereotypically requires that whatever makes the main character special was beyond his/her control and was not "random." This includes heritage, blessing, prophecy, etc.--some external force. So TNO was not a Chosen One, but he sure was special in another way, and Ravel recognized that. (Gawd, I loved Ravel.) Baldur's Gate was Chosen One... although there were kinda two of them in BG1, and the trope was actually dampened in ToB because you discover a bunch of other Bhaalspawn. I don't think we need to worry about PE because the general plot update already tells us our PC is a victim of circumstance, which I much prefer over touching any of that One claptrap. It would really fall under #3 with a twist--"wrong place at the wrong time" given the update wording. Agreed. The original incarnation of The Nameless One certainly wasn't chosen or prophesized. He was simply a man who made a terrible mistake and wanted to buy enough time to make it right. That snowballed into a threat that potentially threatened the planes, but in the end it all came down to choice. Your Nameless One didn't have to end anything. You could go to the Fortress of Regrets and not even solve the problems that were present in the story. Definitely not a chosen one. I'm not sure that your character being in the wrong place at the wrong time excludes you from being that sort of important character, though. Whatever it is that you witness could potentially leave you and the people around you fundamentally changed. Maybe you are jam packed full of souls, or maybe your soul is so badly fragmented that you should have ended up dead. There's still plenty of room for this story to take that sort of direction. We won't know until we get more details.

I liked the ones in Planescape: Torment. They fit the timeframe perfectly and were completely believable. You didn't just immediately foster a deep relationship and start making gooey sex all over camp while your companions watched in terror. Annah and Fall-From-Grace each experienced a lot by your side and came to admire many aspects of your personality. You could feel the same way toward them. There wasn't time for that to advance further, especially because of the nature of the ending. Feelings were present between characters, but not an unrealistic and fully fleshed out romantic arc. We all know more is more, but less can also be more. That is especially true in this case. I really hope they handle it the same way in this game.

I actually don't love to hate villains, I love to understand them. As good as he was in the early stages of the game, I actually don't care for Irenicus at all in the later stages when you actually discover what happened to him. I understood Sarevok's terrible childhood and prodding by numerous ambitious mentors leading to him becoming a bastard who wants to cause slaughter on a godlike level for his ascension. I understand Saren allying with Sovereign to give the citadel races the chance to survive. I understand The Transcendent One expanding his plane of power to put a permanent end to you and what you represent. I like villains with real depth, not just excuses. Irenicus was a bad egg *before* was exiled and had his soul stolen. I can't even pretend I understand his actions. I don't like villains like that.

These things always slow down after the initial boom. It'll pick back up in smaller spurts and near the funding deadline.

I think people are tired of the cliche, but being unique in a story doesn't have to be a cut and paste option like some people feel it has to be. The Nameless One and The Exile from this team's previous experience are great examples of someone being a core of the story and the only one who can stop the threat, but still not being trite. It's all about the kind of arc that a character goes through. Planescape: Torment wasn't about defeating an unstoppable evil. The game presented *you* as an evil that had to be stopped. It was all about self-discovery and catharsis. Kotor 2 was all about people wounded by war trying to heal and move forward. It even condemned destiny and said that those people who experienced such pain were the only ones who could steer the future of the galaxy. I want a unique protagonist who stands out among their peers. However, I want that character to have an arc like I know this team can provide.

Replay Planescape: Torment and visit the brothel of intellectual lusts. Talk to all of the girls there and tell me that Obsidian doesn't have a grasp at making strong female characters. You can't. Lead characters like Fall-From-Grace, Annah, Kreia, and Atris are already well rounded and deep, but even their side characters aren't just drawn from a stereotype and left alone. If that was something you were afraid of, then ease your fears.