Will the Mary Sue factor be dialled down in chapter 4?

Really? Because my Sage is full darkside and was never kicked out of the Jedi Order for anything darkside I did.

Let's be fair here. Mass Effect is deliberately larger-than-life. and ME2 and the "Shepard is an insane bad@ss" thing is one of the few examples I've seen of a series actually acknowledging the protagonist's accomplishments.

Meanwhile you're heavily mischaracterizing Dragon Age. The guy who decides to follow you has huge issues concerning leadership, and you get to call him out on it repeatedly. You aren't the best Warden, it's just that you and Alistar are the only Wardens who happen to be available.

And that's because you were lucky enough to get rescued by a swamp witch (who, as it turns out, Is Plotting Something). Otherwise you'd be dead too. You aren't special, at least not to start out. You're just convenient.

Now you get to pull off some pretty crazy ****, but you have to work like crazy to earn it and it still almost doesn't work.

And then there's DA2, where you don't even matter at all...

I disagree. The class stories are the best part of SWTOR and I like that they make the player the hero of the story.

I think we're only slightly touching on the needs of a MMO game.

It seems every WoW patch is to save the universe, and I think people treat it as a known quantity.

The WoW story also requires that you separate out that you have millions of "heroes" in the world, and it really just comes down to your group being the proxy for all heroes.

Barsen'thor makes sense. Now, I don't think anyone would argue that it makes further writing more difficult. It paints you into a bit of a corner. All of the class stories are happening at different times in the timeline, with only a couple crossing paths. Chapter 4-5-6 will need to be more about converging.

I agree with The Burning Crusade sentiments as far as story, but I still loved their end-game content. Please make the Emperor's citadel be Karazhan

I think that going over the top works better in games. Yes, you can create great and compelling stories about much more modest or limited goals, but that takes a lot more skill and is very hit-or-miss. Going over the top is a lot more reliable.

Besides--we're talking about a video game centered around a violent conflict between good and evil. Everyone wants to be the Big Damn Hero.

Coleman Trebor was a Jedi high council member and he got killed by Jango. And Boba Fett had a close fight with Vader.

What do you mean real? Luke was quite realistic, had good characterization in the OT, he just did unreal heroic things as well.

A wise but aged knight in shining armor takes a farmboy in whom he sees great potential as a squire. On their travels they encounter a swashbuckler and somehow wind up entangled with him.

The knight's mission is to save the princess from the evil wizard's tower, which they do.

The princess is so irked at the evil wizard that she subsequently sends the knight, his squire, and the swashbuckler back to the tower, to destroy it.

Which again, they do.

THE END

It's "it's", not its.

Well yes, if you remove plot, character development, interpersonal relationships, motives, and background from a story basically everything can be distilled into the hero's journey. Your point?