The first KOTOR is probably the greatest Star Wars product since ... well depending on your preference Empire Strikes Back, Tie Fighter (the Lucasarts game) or the LEGO UCS Tie Advanced. It has a decent story2 with an excellent twist in the last third, great production values and characters you actually feel something for (and in HK 47 a fine comic character). So Avellone has a lot to live up to with KOTOR 2, I think he's up to the challenge and In this Gamespot article he explains how he's doing that, suffering for his art and our enjoyment:
Step 51 B: Do Your Research
Before sitting down with your story, do some research. For example, with The Sith Lords, I sat down and watched each of the Star Wars movies again, read every single Star Wars novel and comic book, and even shackled myself to a chair and endured the "Star Wars Christmas Special." (I incurred minimal drain bamage but did experience mildly impaired arithmetic skills that prevented me from counting or scripting anything properly.)
Anyway, the reason for this is simple: If you are working in someone else's universe, know it inside and out. Know what's been done in it, know what adventure seeds or game ideas have been done to death (or not done enough), know what bad ideas to stay away from, and know the parameters of the universe. If you're using someone else's genre, it usually comes with its own set of story-based bookends and parameters you need to consider when writing a story.
When not using someone else's universe (which is a lucky thing in today's role-playing-game market), there's still research to be done. Know what other games have done the genre you're working in, and know what's going to make your game stand out when compared to the others.
1 Halo 2 being the biggest, obviously.
2 Given that it's 40 hours of gameplay if you do most side-quests, it tells all of the seven archetypal stories and most combinations of them and happily ploughs through Joseph Campbell's 12 Step Hero Programme.
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