The Ubbergeek said:
My point is that he seems very tied to specific rules, and can't seems to be able to imagine to make X (not hugely specific to world/rules, of course) character idea to Y (suitable) game/setting.
Like, say, a classic swashbuckling rake.
And also, that he seems to feel forced to rolls as theJohnSnow say, and not be able to create some guy from the ground up.
It can be creative, but it' smuch improvisation and all that. For me, it's perhaps even creative, or allow you control on your creation at least, to have the control on stats and choices and all that.
Not every one want to min max or roleplay oneself. I like to make concepts, characters and all that.
First of all, a moderator warning:
Let's please not disparage each other's gaming preferences. It's not polite.
Now, with that said:
Do you know the children's book
Green Eggs and Ham? Dr. Seuss, its author, limited himself as a writing exercise to only fifty words, total, for the book. As a result, he wrote one of the top-selling children's books of all time. It's equally valid and rewarding working within the constraints of the system, as it is to making the system conform to your concept.
I like to think of them as two different approaches. For some games (like Dread, or Savage Worlds, Mutants and Masterminds, or Shadow of Yesterday, or games in that vein) building concept and then picking abilities to fit works much better. For others, like D&D, it's neat to look at all combos, picking one, and then figure out how the build you make can have an equally rewarding characterization, goals, etc. It's just as much "roleplaying yourself" as someone who uses the same concept repeatedly, no matter the game system. Even then, some people like a certain concept because it's an idealization of what they like to be, or as Robin Laws calls it, "the Specialist" gamer. The "Tactician" or "Power Gamer" might enjoy the challenge of making a character from parts into a whole.
I'll do either one; I usually treat it as two different approaches to gaming, similar to how I won't approach Poker in the same way I approach Pictionary.