Guild Wars 2

…personal options picked in chargen.

For Charr, a Questline to switch Legions. To prove your worth to Blood, Ash or Iron, the repurcussions of leaving one for another, etc.

For Asura, switching to a different College.

Humans, mebbe Gaining Access to Nobility, or falling into destitution.

Norn, choosing a new totem spirit…

Just some Ideas on ways to evolve ones character and make new personal choices in game.

I haven’t played a Norn or a Charr, so I can’t weigh in on those.

But for the other two, I think your idea isn’t going to work. Asuras have their “Colleges”, which are really not that different from our actual colleges. They specialize in a very specific field and do research in that field. College of Dynamics is a bit like a Mad Scientist version of experimental science. On the other hand, College of Statistics are more like architects. Finally, we have College of Synergetics is like theoretical sciences. Changing from one to the other would not only mean a massive change in career, but also your personal opinion of what the Eternal Alchemy is. That is, it’s a massive change of lifestyle. Your acquaintances would change, former friends might be new enemies, everything you spent your lifetime so far studying on would be at best “reference material for what NOT TO DO”. It’s just not plausible.

As for the humans, if you look at what happens towards the end, all of the paths end up in prestige. No matter how you slice it, you still end up being regarded as a hero. Sadly, the opposite isn’t really what the game is about. It’s a game about a hero, not a game about some rich kid who ended up pigging their way into poverty.