3, better.

1 and 2, not at all. The game mechanics have aged... not so well... and you'll be getting pissed off a lot.

(that is compared to T1, haven't played T2)

It's ok I never played T2 myself

I play them both religously (spell). Torchlight is WAY more laid back and it looks like you are playing a Disney cartoon, but still fun. I am however partial to D2. I bought that game at midnight the day (morning) it came out and I still play it constantly.

One really cool thing about Torchlight is that it looks great and plays fast and will do on pretty much anything more powerful than a pocket calculator.

FYI, they have several of the same programmers and the exact same music composers so the music is very similar and a lot of the monsters have similar names.

Just bought and installed T2. Again like Diablo 1 to 2 it basically just increased in size and character variance. There is a psycho in T2 and you can team him/her with a papillion which I find very twisted and very cool.

Raymond Queneau, a french writer, said there are two kinds of fictional stories: Illiads and Odysseys. Illiads are about a set of characters dealing with a crisis in a given, well fleshed-out context. Odysseys are more about one character's journey and personal developpment.

I'm not saying I absolutely believe these are the only two story-models, but it's another interesting example of those theories of storytelling you and F4LLOUT mentioned.
In games, I think there'd be quite a lot of Odysseys, basically every time you control one lonely player-character: many RPGs, most FPS: games based on self-discovery and progressive empowerment (Unreal 1, Lands of Lore 2, every Elder Scrolls game). Of course, self-discovery can be simplified and represented by gaining levels, powerups, etc.

Party-based RPGs like Dragon Age or Kotor are examples of Illiads, I think: the struggle of a team of characters with a large-scale crisis in the background. Also, hero-based strategy games like Warcraft 3, Dawn of War 2...

Concerning the main topic of this thread, lore, I'm surprised no one mentioned Valve games. Portal, especially, has a very thin story (basically you're trapped, look for the exit) with an excitingly deep lore wrapped around it. Also Half-Life's story (and HL2 even more) is just "go from point A to point B, then to point C and so on", but Valve makes this simple canvas brilliantly fun to play, thanks to the well fleshed-out context.

Well, I had a professor who regularly warned us to double check what he said, since he was prone to bullshitting his way through a class, according to himself.

Well to be fair dawn of war has an amazing sorounding lore, but the lore they show in dawn of war is miniscule... What im saying is the lore isn't in the game, and the things they present storywise in the game is just tragic :\
WH40k universe has a better lore then starcraft by far, not that strange when you think of starcrafts history (Gamemaking history that is)

I allways found everquest lore very interesting, but that might be the bias of the young age speaking, as it was something i was fed from my big brother at a very young age :)

I like wh40k stuff.

warhammer 40000 is very interesting so it's a pity there's so few action games or squad tactics games with space marines.

The Longest Journey
Mass Effect

Both are very rich, unique worlds filled with interesting cultures.

Speaking of ideas: Since we currently live in a post-modernist world it is almost impossible to find a fresh and new idea.
Take current indie boom. Most of the ideas even for gameplay are reimaginings of previous classics. Not to mention the AAA franchises are afraid to do something fresh because it might not sell. Unfortunately, innovation is not something that is encouraged in entertainment.

When it comes to the best lore. I'd say Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Legacu of Kain and...for me Mass Effect.
Now... the latter might not be entirely new and fresh (it doesn't have to be). But I absolutely love how fleshed out the universe is and how much details about it they put in the games. Makes you feel like a part of a bigger thing story-wise.

Presonally I also like the lore around the Thief series. Although it's not detailed enough though books, spin-offs etc. like some current big franchises.

Echoing what some other people have said I really like the Elder Scrolls lore. Though I don't see it as all that well represented in game actually. Morrowind did a good job of making me want to know more about the lore and read books - Oblivion not as much (though I'm not really sure why exactly, and don't just want to "blame it on Oblivion being bad"), and Skyrim a bit more (though I am definitely more confused about stuff about Alduin than I was about Dagoth Ur).

I like that the story can be fleshed out really well - or at least the world can feel like it is more realistic (all the contradictions and competing myths, the various histories, etc). But the sort of standard narratives of the games are pretty much one dimensional, which isn't a horrible thing.

first one that came to my mind thats for sure

Halo!!?!? Amazed that no one mentioned it, it is actually GREAT and I have dived in to a lot of game lore (fallout, mass effect, edler scrolls to mention a few). Halo is by far the most expanded game universe i've seen with so much happening outside the games (or perhaps that doesn't count?) but the story in itself is also amazing according to me with cool biblical references that doesnt get to obvious or cliché as well as halo 4 that throws everything u thought you pieced together to the side (the human/forerunner relationship). It might sound pathetic for a GOG:er to vote for Halo but i stand proud!
EDIT: the way half-life describes its universe is also amazing and you really have to be perceptive and reflecting to get it all (or rather u probably won't understand most anyway). I find that the possibility of a great lore and huge and complex universe is better suited for the game media and has a stronger place in it more than any other (well perhaps not books..) which is why I', such a fan of video games! And why I can't udnerstand why people play COD when there is so much better and more involved games out there. oh well..
EDIT: sorry for crappy spelling and grammar, I'm actually not THAT bad, just lazy..

Off topic but... whenever anyone from a country that doesn't speak English says that (I am assuming you are from Sweden here and didn't learning English first/at the same time) I am always both amazed and awed because my grasp of Swedish would be something like this if I tried. :)