I can't really say how the prices will move. xD I think it depends. If the game sells like hotcakes, then it won't go down in price anytime soon.

About the story, yes and no. The story itself, the one you take in charge when you control the "hero", is fairly simple in its structure and narrative. Go here, do this, go there, do that. The lore behind everything you do (or the status quo of the place you're inhabitating) it's the most powerful aspect of it. It's hard to grasp, but satisfying once you understand how the gears move.

The PC version pretty much eliminates this performance issue.  I got to enjoy Blighttown for what it was: still a fucking horrible place to visit.

WHy do people usually consider DS2 to be very inferior to DS1?
Never played them but intent to do it someday

Well, everything can't be prettiness and hopefulness, can it?!

Yeah, you should be able to jump into DS3 with no real problem.

Storywise there is no connection so that doesn't matter. Gameplay wise they all play very very similar so I honestly don't think there is any point in get 1&2 unless for your own sake of wanting to have owned them all. Personally I say save your money and just go straight to 3.
There's normally a real good discussion thread on here when a souls game is released and everybody gives each other tips and advice, so you don't want to miss out on that.

How can there be no connection when, for starters, the Curse of the Undead is present throughout all the games?

I wouldn't have it any other way. When I'm playing a good Dark Souls game, I want to dread going to certain areas.  Blighttown and Tomb of the Giants had that covered.

get bloodborne!!!!!

never played a souls game, but i might after playing bloodborne and loving it. in fact i JUST bought the bloodborne DLC (The Old Hunters)

For the record, Dark Souls 2 is a great game. And while I think some of the "hate" is overblown, there are definitely a few things that it loses.  Level design just isn't quite up to snuff.  The areas don't snake back around to one another, and they seem very disconnected. You basically start in a hub and you're free to go in any of the 4-5 directions, but they're pretty much disconnected from one another. There's also a bit of an aesthetic different, as well as a general drop in difficulty, I think.

However, it's got a lot going for it. First off, it's easily the longest of the souls games, especially with the three expansions. Something like 40+ bosses. And it has the best co-op multiplayer. So good, that Bloodborne felt like a bit of a step back in some ways. And the addition of dual wielding and power stances were very welcome.