Remathilis
Legend
We fudged. We always fudged. The idea was to get an decent, organic array but not be weak in your chosen field (aka have a decent prime req) so we tended to do a bit of "roll a 7th roll if your highest score was 14 or silently reroll that 5 you just got". We weren't slaves to the rolls; we wanted people to play the PC they wanted. As long as your didn't have multiple 18s or most scores above 15, we didn't care (that seemed true even if you did roll that well; most lowered uberhigh scores just as they bumped lower ones).
We did try Point-buy once in 3.5, and it didn't feel the same. Everyone's scores were perfect even numbers (since spending for an odd score is a waste) and most ended up something like (from memory) 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, every time. When re rolled, we might end up 18, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, or 17, 15, 13, 12, 12, 10. Because the numbers looked different, they seemed more organic and forced some different level-up decisions (Do I bump an odd score for a boost, or devote two bumps to getting my prime higher?)
Between the two, I prefer the old system of bumping and fudging an organic array than balancing a point spread.
We did try Point-buy once in 3.5, and it didn't feel the same. Everyone's scores were perfect even numbers (since spending for an odd score is a waste) and most ended up something like (from memory) 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, every time. When re rolled, we might end up 18, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, or 17, 15, 13, 12, 12, 10. Because the numbers looked different, they seemed more organic and forced some different level-up decisions (Do I bump an odd score for a boost, or devote two bumps to getting my prime higher?)
Between the two, I prefer the old system of bumping and fudging an organic array than balancing a point spread.