This game needs a serious overhall in the character department. Every single person I do quests for is completely forgotten within minutes after our relations are finished. [I] can't remember a single characters name or what they stood for in the world.
Seconded. I know Lydia and Ulfric. That's it.
However, Bethesda's not known for their story and character development. This is the equivalent of asking Bioware to create a sandbox world. They just can't do it. Bethesda's niche is sandbox RPGs.
Mods may fix this.
1. The characters are just bland stereotypical video game nobodies filling up space just fo[r] the sake of being there.
2. The vastness of the game dilutes the importance and meaning of the characters.
There's a more simple explanation for this: the characters don't recur enough. Once you've finished their allotment of quests, you have absolutely no reason to interact with them ever again. I'd like to see characters periodically seek you out, or have one or two quests 'in stock' to give you when you reach a high enough level or fulfill some kind of prerequisite (e.g. get the Attractive perk in the Speech skill tree). Or they can do something as simple as wander throughout their region/town. Usually, it's the no-names that do this. I'd like to see important NPCs going about their lives- shopping, training, travelling, discussing.
There's only so much you can put on one disc, though.
Mods may fix this.
For the next game take some notes from game of thrones or lord of the rings. Stories that are very character heavy while maintaining the gravity of their personalities and motives.
No, thanks. I don't want another DA2. Instead, I'd suggest Bethesda look to Gothic 1 and 2. Those games were almost, almost perfect in their depiction of a fantasy, medieval setting and characters.