Why Borderlands 2's Story Won't Suck

The Borderlands 2 developer team has been very eager to claim that the story of the FPS/RPG sequel is much better than the original's, and I suppose if you wanted to be reminded of that, or actually read some of their reasons for making this claim, you might want to read this piece from IGN with lead writer Anthony Burch. Here's a snippet:
Burch is positive about the original Borderlands a game he had no creative involvement in but says (there were lots of cool stories that could have been told.) Players responded well to a lot of the side characters, like T.K. Baha, but without reading each piece of mission text they'd never get a full understanding for the substance or subtle humor surrounding them. (There was a lot of good stuff there, but maybe it wasn't delivered to the player as obviously as it could have been,) says Burch. With a laugh, he continues. (Plus, the ending sucked, and we've admitted that a bunch.)

So what's in that gigantic new script that makes Borderlands 2 so much better?

(Pretty much every new character we have,) he says, giving nods to Tiny Tina and Ellie. (We gave them three to five sidequests to say what their backstory is, what their personality is.) This is especially true of the returning characters in particular, the Vault Hunters from the first game. (You spend a significant amount of the main plot getting to know who they are now,) says Burch. The Borderlands heroes were about their class, not their character, and most players remember their skill trees more than their personal qualities.