Jackablade

I don't mind racial archetypes. It saves from spending a lot of dialogue and flavour text on introducing what an Elf is. Save that for introducing the enigmatic Cabbage People of the Slippery Steppes. I don't suppose it's really worth mentioning now, but for conversation sake, one thing I was hoping for was for the protagonist to be locked down to a single, specific character as it is in Torment. I know people like the option to pick from a elven ranger or Cabbage druid, but I think it allows for much more specific and thereby stronger writing if the respective writer always knows more or less who it is that they're writing about. When that isn't the case, dialogue with NPCs needs to be far more generic to encompass whatever race and gender a player happens to have chosen. Sure different bits and pieces of dialogue can be slotted in and out where appropriate, but that very seldom winds up being as natural and personal speech as might have been possible if the it was *known* that the protagonist was, for example, a big,ugly, tattooed man.

I think if the story is compelling enough, it doesn't need some earth shattering repercussion for tarrying to long taking in the scenery or, you know, playing the game. If the main quest is a personal one, at least initially , as it is in Planescape and New Vegas, it gives the player a chance to get out and experience the world, talk to the NPCs, do some sidequests, without feeling like they should be rushing off to stop bad stuff from happening. I think it also holds the story together a little better because you're going to help Farmer Joe find his missing chicken whether the demon lord is going to torture your kidnapped mum and then destroy the world or not. If the player is off doing silly little side quests, it tends to make the threat of impending doom, whatever it might be, a little toothless.