In my recently-started Classic Traveller game players rolled stats (2d6) and rolled for their lifepaths, survival, skills acquired, etc - that's what Traveller is about!
In my two 4e games, stats were assigned via points-buy - 4e is a very different game from Traveller, with stats playing a very different role. Each character's stat profile is different, although (unsurprisingly) no one dumped their main stat. I think the idea that points-buy leads to cookie-cutter is overrated, at least in the 4e context.
In my Cortex Fantasy Hack game, I pre-generated the PCs, although the players have had a chance to modify them a bit since (via expenditure of earned XP). There's not really such a thing as "stats" in that system, let alone rolling for stats.
The idea that there's a single best way to generate PCs strikes me as pretty ridiculous. Different RPGs, and different campaigns within a given RPG, have different context, goals of play, etc, which means that PC generation will be different too.
In my two 4e games, stats were assigned via points-buy - 4e is a very different game from Traveller, with stats playing a very different role. Each character's stat profile is different, although (unsurprisingly) no one dumped their main stat. I think the idea that points-buy leads to cookie-cutter is overrated, at least in the 4e context.
In my Cortex Fantasy Hack game, I pre-generated the PCs, although the players have had a chance to modify them a bit since (via expenditure of earned XP). There's not really such a thing as "stats" in that system, let alone rolling for stats.
The idea that there's a single best way to generate PCs strikes me as pretty ridiculous. Different RPGs, and different campaigns within a given RPG, have different context, goals of play, etc, which means that PC generation will be different too.