Hmm, does taking lore/history/science mentioned in game, and then deeply researching them and into their backgrounds work? There's a JRPG series called Ar Tonelico that I started researching into some of their actual video game lore, and then into what they've taken from the real world from their ideas and went all the way down to the whole string-theory/wave-theory. I spent HOURS reading up on it, just being fascinated.
I also roleplay on the internet, and I'll take a general idea for a character, and then spend hours researching into a specific area so I can make the character fit, and add my own twists/ideas to it. Such as the archangel Raziel. I spent hours reading up on angelogy and what not just to learn as much as I could. Also for my Djinn/Genie/spirit character. I poured over the internet finding as much as I could, and when I couldn't find anything new, and it was all repeating of what I"d already read...only then did I stop and actually decide on how to do things and build the character.