Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Yeah, it sounds like you're adding a fourth pillar here, that being Character Creation; which overlaps with but doesn't completely include the existing Social pillar of in-game interactions.I start character development as a joint act with my party and GM during character generation. Also, we use emails and posts to a private server for all downtime activities. This means that between sessions we still have "play by post" to a degree. What your calling character development is what I am referring to character creation. I just also add character generation to that because I sit down with my D&D books I go through the rules and follow them to make a characters. My definition of character creation is the combination of your character generation and development as one larger idea. I don't separate.
Since you do consider character development as and in game action then knowing this is what I am speaking of means you recognize and are aware this is very much part of the game. As part of the game I consider Character development to be a pillar of D&D of often called the social pillar. The only think I am saying is that combine that with character generation and call it the Character creation pillar. Why? Because I love making characters. I help my friends with their characters if they have issues concerns or complainants. I have a folder with 16 alts maid from different ideas I have had and if my character dies I find one of my idea that I like that I think would be a good fit as a replacement bring them to the table and develop them in game.
This fourth pillar of yours also overlaps significantly with another fourth pillar proposed a while back in (an)other thread(s); that being a Downtime pillar.
I guess I see the pillars, in the end, as representing in-fiction play elements rather than out-of-fiction elements; and that's where we're diverging.