Depending on the players and situation, mismatched characters can be fun.  I like chargen prior to the game so people who want to futz around a bunch or look up rule details can take as much time as they want.  You just need to give guidelines of what you expect.  I think odd groups add to the fun.  I'd rather have an unusual mix than the same old balanced party.  If 3 people show up with very similar characters, I'll think of a reason for it and make them come up with ways to define themselves away from the archetype.

I like group discussion about said things - at the table or via e-mail - but I'm not sure to what degree characters are truly made as a result of such things as opposed to just modified. That is, you come to the table with a concept or concepts, and just modify them according to what's said. For example, instead of ditching the acerbic fighter with a dark past, he just becomes an acerbic cleric with a dark past.

Seanchai

I want characters to be done before the game starts. Send me a copy in email or work some stuff out over the phone.. but try and have it done before the game begins if at all possible. (Exceptions for new players, of course.)

I want players to make the characters they want. There is a clear set of rules for the game I play, and we're not running astrological charts here. Get it done beforehand.

Also, I advise the character starts as a mostly blank slate; don't write a backstory, don't pick his favorite colors or anything. Develop the character as a person in game, and not beforehand.

I find character generation sessions frustrating.  If everyone is together, we should be slinging dice and kicking ass.  Chargen can be hashed out in email.

Quote from: Abyssal MawI want players to make the characters they want. There is a clear set of rules for the game I play, and we're not running astrological charts here. Get it done beforehand.

What if the clear set of rules indicate at-table character generation and imply some backstory?

Quote from: HalfjackWhat if the clear set of rules indicate at-table character generation and imply some backstory?

Then the game is broken. HAH!

I prefer group character generation but the concept is pretty much foreign to the guys I play with.  The time we tried this 75% of our time was spent limping through HERO character creation.

I will never, ever do group chargen again.  I found it to be a boring, obnoxious, dreadful experience.

I did it when I started my Rifts game.  It was a disaster.  I had to run around and answer people's individual questions the whole time while other people sat around, bored, waiting for me to get to them.

Plus, it provided no real benefit.  No one wanted to create a back story right there - they wanted to create the mechanics of the character then "think about it" for a while.  As others here mentioned, some players take weeks just to think up a name, much less a backstory.  There was a brief, half-hearted discussion of who should pick what character class (to balance out the group), but that was about it.

As for games that expect group chargen and won't work without it?  Probably not my type of game.

Any thoughts about how system dependent these biases might be?  I can see some coarse outlines myself.

Quote from: jgantsI will never, ever do group chargen again.  I found it to be a boring, obnoxious, dreadful experience.

9 times out of 10, I agree with you.  Heck, better than 9.  It's nice when two or more players' characters mesh, whether intentionally or on accident, but it's a drag when you have three to six players trying too hard shoehorn their character concepts into the same crowded boot.  Perhaps even worse is when a couple of players get carried away with the idea without the enthusiastic approval or cooperation of the rest of the players.  Admittedly, this last scenario can (and does) sometimes emerge during play well after chargen.

!i!

Quote from: HalfjackAny thoughts about how system dependent these biases might be?  I can see some coarse outlines myself.

Well, clearly the more options you have at chargen, the longer it will take.  And the longer it takes, the less fun it will be to do in a group setting.

GURPS, HERO, Palladium...stuff like that takes people a while.  There's a lot of choices there.  Compare that to a rules light game (like, say, the old Basic D&D set) where you can create a character in 15 mins - sure, that's going to work better in a group setting.

I'm not so sure its a bias so much as recognizing that group chargen doesn't work very well with games that have complex chargens.

Quote from: HalfjackAny thoughts about how system dependent these biases might be?  I can see some coarse outlines myself.

Sure.  In general the crunchier the system, the harder it will be to do group chargen in a reasonable time period.  I did group chargen for my Traveller campaign.  Everybody made two or three characters in 90 minutes or so, then we spent the rest of the afternoon zooming around the Spinward Marches.

Quote from: jgantsI'm not so sure its a bias so much as recognizing that group chargen doesn't work very well with games that have complex chargens.

Sorry, that certainly qualifies as a bias the way I intended the word -- I didn't mean to load it with the usual negative connotations.

Quote from: jgantsWell, clearly the more options you have at chargen, the longer it will take.  And the longer it takes, the less fun it will be to do in a group setting.

This is why I can readily see everyone agreeing on a broad scope of character concepts -- even a more specific scope if everyone's into it -- when the game is first proposed.  Within that established context, everyone goes off on their own to create their characters.  Thematically linked, but not slavishly interdependent.

!i!

If chargen is fast, we do group chargen, if it's slow we try to do it away from the table.

I play once a week, I'm time pressured, losing a week's game for chargen is just not going to happen.