Backstory has its place. It is a delicate balancing act: background, history, mythology, cultures, role-playing, etc. I use it all to create a dynamic, life-like experience for me, and my players. I think what works the best is listening to my players' table talk about what they think is really going on. I listen to it, massage it a bit, and then play it out: they "realize" they were mostly correct in their assumptions, but there are subtle differences which make it more believable.
I view it as interactive story-telling. They play a critical role in helping me to develop my game world, on nearly every level. I don't dictate to them, for the most part. I had a player, back in the 90's, tell me she was taking the "Etiquette" Non-Weapon Proficiency... I was flabbergasted, and disappointed: "
Why that? What's the point? Seems like a genuine waste where there are so many other NWP's she could take, which are far more useful..." I buckled myself down, and read, and re-read, the description. I thought about her homeland: a kingdom ruled by a Paladin, with knights, Dukes, and Barons. It all started to gel together.
With her prompting, I developed a culture, and a kingdom. It was
Lawful Good, which, to me, meant that they had strict cultural rules, and a strict caste system. I developed ranks, and classes: Royalty and Nobility, along with peasants, and everyone else. I came up with
Spurred Knights, and
Un-Spurred Knights [spurs are earned by defeating a (relative to you) powerful enemy, usually a monster]; Greater and Lesser Royalty, and Greater and Lesser Nobility.
In the end, two players were so annoyed by the strict caste system, they flouted it, to the point of being arrested, with one choosing execution -- she wanted to end the character, and this was her chosen method of 'retiring' the PC. It was great fun for everyone!
Interactive storytelling means listening, and incorporating, your players' input, into the game. Back-story, history, culture, etc., can all become a part of the grand story arc, but you need to balance it all, to make the whole, memorable for all. Cheers!
